3,147. An Unharvested Stalk

Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 4:2

If one harvests by hand without using a sickle, the stalks that drop from his hand aren’t leket. When one plucks crops that are usually plucked by hand, what falls from his hand is leket. If he was harvesting (i.e., using a sickle) or plucking crops that are typically plucked, and after he harvested an armful or plucked a handful, he dropped the crops because he was stuck by a thorn, the produce remains the owner’s property.

Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 4:3

Let’s say that someone was harvesting and he left a stalk of grain standing, even though he harvested all the surrounding grain. If the tip of the stalk can reach the adjacent standing grain and can be harvested with that grain, it remains the property of the owner; if not, it must be left for the needy.