AviraDeArah,
“we indeed kept the mitzvos in the midbar for 40 years before going into EY.”
A lot of mitzvos were learned in the midbar but had to wait until we were in E”Y to perform them. We couldn’t fulfill mitzvos such as kelayim or shemitta in the midbar, where there was no agriculture.
“Every part of the world has a shkiah, a tzeis…and yes, living in problematic areas such as Hawaii or Shanghai are discouraged bh poskim, because it isn’t clear how to keep zmanim.”
Not the polar regions, though poskim also discourage living there too.
“Trees planted hydroponically or in an atzitz sheaino nakuv aren’t considered gidulei karka for things like schach, etc… according to most poskim.”
Great points!