Veggie Fest – Plant a Tree, Clean the Air

Veggie Fest 2017 – A Huge Success!

There’s no doubt about it–Veggie Fest 2017 was a huge success! Tens of thousands attended this year — more than any other year. The food was delicious, the bands were fabulous, the speakers were great! Despite the large crowd, there seemed to be happiness, peace, and good will everywhere. I couldn’t help but think that this is the way America should be!

Veggie Fest 2017 August 12 & 13 at Illinois Benedictine University, Lisle, IL

This year our booth was right next to the entrance, so we were swamped from the start. We ran out of trees on Saturday at about 5:00 pm. Then, Sunday morning, we potted up a whole bunch more trees which we ran out of those at about 1:00 pm. Throughout the day, we kept potting up more trees and bringing them over in batches, handing them out as fast as they arrived.

A lovely lady who grows food for her community in her garden. Now she will have a tree there, too!

We finally ran out of paper cups, so we had to quit. But we still had people signing up to get an email about the next time we’re going to do this. Here are photos of just a few of them.

A Mom and Dad with their 2 cute kids and 1 new tree. They'll have their hands full for a while! — A Mom and Dad with their 2 cute kids and 1 new tree. They’ll have their hands full for a while!

A happy, colorful couple. I have to smile just looking at them. They were a delight to talk to.

A gentleman with a GREAT T-Shirt who really "gets" the tree thing. — A gentleman with a GREAT T-Shirt who really “gets” the tree thing.

And here are some more of the wonderful people who will be planting trees:

A delightful lady who looks like she may be just realizing that she is going to be doing a lot of planting!

This smart woman who used her Veggie Fest bag to carry her new tree, as did many others. — This smart woman who used her Veggie Fest bag to carry her new tree.

Here’s a look at some of the places where the seedlings will be planted.

2017 Veggie Fest Tree Planting Locations (click to view full size interactive map to find your dot) This is just a small portion of the entire map, so click above to see the full interactive version.

I want to thank everyone who stopped by and picked up a seedling and promised to plant it! I think there were were over 700 of you, roughly, making this the best give-away event EVER for me!

And a very special thanks to all my dear friends who pitched in so many times to make this possible. They did everything from digging and potting, to driving back and forth, to lending equipment and moral support, to shopping, setting up the booth and taking it down, scrubbing the bins, and even donating the booth. Here are just a few that I have photos of:

Bonnie potted trees and worked the booth. She was shy at first, but got on board quickly and seemed to enjoy it by the end. She was enormously helpful by the end. — Bonnie potted trees and worked the booth. She was shy at first, but got on board quickly and seemed to enjoy it by the end. She was enormously helpful.

Ann potted and shopped and in general did everything with great gusto. She's our most experienced gardener. — Ann potted and shopped and in general did everything with great gusto. She’s our most experienced gardener.

Rob worked tirelessly to dig and pot up trees. We thought we had more than enough in advance (these bins are laid out 3 deep!), but this amount only lasted until Sat afternoon. — Rob worked tirelessly to dig and pot up trees. We thought we had more than enough in advance (these bins are laid out 3 deep!), but these only lasted from Sat morning until Sat afternoon.

Karsten (in yellow shirt) dug, potted, watered, helped set up, and drove back and forth with more trees. He also helped clean out the equipment we borrowed. — Karsten (in yellow shirt) dug, potted, watered, helped set up, and drove back and forth with more trees. He also helped clean out the bins we borrowed so we could return them clean.

Thanks also to Steve Tiwald of the Green Earth Institute for lending much needed bins as well as moral support and encouragement.

And last but by no means least, thanks go out to the Veggie Fest people for donating the booth again this year so that we could reach so many people! The Veggie Fest staff was incredibly nice! They helped us move stuff in a golf cart before and after the event. They brought us buckets full of water which we didn’t even ask for–they were very thoughtful and always there when we needed something!

Sandy registering people in the booth at Veggie Fest — Sandy happily giving away sugar maple seedlings in the booth at Veggie Fest 2017

VeggieFest Tree Planters: Find Your Dot!

Here is a cool map that shows all the people who registered and got a free sugar maple tree at VeggieFest 2017 on August 12 & 13 at Illinois Benedictine University.

To find your dot, CLICK HERE or on the map to see the full-size interactive version of this map that you can scroll and zoom. To find your own dot, scroll over and zoom into your general area, then click on any dot to see the details.

2017 Veggie Fest Tree Planting Locations (click to view full size interactive map to find your dot)

Please note: the image above is just a small portion of the entire map, so click above to see the full interactive version.

Plant Your Tree and Send in a Photo!

Hi! If you came to VeggieFest 2017 and got a free sugar maple tree (or 2 or even 3), please remember to plant it as soon as possible according to the directions we handed out (which are also on this website), then send a photo of it to:

info@thesandymapleseedproject.com

Thank you so much for doing your part to plant a tree, clean the air, and cool the earth.

If you did not get your free tree yet, or you’d like another, check back here soon as we will be posting info on our next two Give-Away events soon. One will be in Sept and the other in Oct, 2017.

We’ll be at Veggie Fest 2017 this weekend!

We’ll be at Veggie Fest 2017 this weekend giving away 2,000 to 3,000 sugar maple tree seedlings, hopefully!

Hope to see you there! Stop by our booth # G3 and get a free tree or just say hi! Tell your friends, too.

1,000 Trees at VeggieFest!

We made it to VeggieFest 2016 and we gave away about 1,000 sugar maple seedlings to people from all across North America!

20160723_113720 — Volunteer Mary Fitzpatrick greeted people and helped them chose a free seedling. She also answered many questions and collected zip codes of where the seedlings will be planted so we can plot their locations on a Google map.

It was wonderful to meet so many people who were tree lovers! Many reminisced about a favorite maple tree they grew up with or autumn colors. Sadly, many had recently lost a tree, usually an ash.

Thank you all for taking a sugar maple tree to plant! Because of you, we will all breathe a little easier and the Earth will be a little nicer place to live.

We look forward to hearing from you soon and seeing pix of your new tree!

Father & Daughter — This wonderful dad took a free tree to plant for his daughter. He let her pick out her favorite.

20160723_113210 — Eagle Scout Ty Jensen greeted people, answered questions, and kept the table filled with potted trees as quickly as they were taken.

20160723_112609 — We gave our first seedling away to the people in the booth next door before the show. Many booth owners took a tree to adorn their booth during the show, then plant afterward.

Special thanks to the wonderful people at the organic vegetable farm in south Naperville called the Green Earth Institute who sponsored us for this event. We highly recommend joining their CSA for healthy and delicious veggies from Spring through Fall! There’s just nothing better than fresh off the farm food! http://greenearthinstitute.org/

20160724_173756 — Volunteer Rob McMillian reached out to many people and explained what we were doing and how to plant a sugar maple for best results. This photo was taken late Sunday afternoon when we were almost out of trees. Thanks, Rob, great job!

20160716_134331 — Volunteer Rob McMillian reached out to many people and explained what we were doing and how to plant a sugar maple for best results. This photo was taken late Sunday afternoon when we were almost out of trees. Thanks, Rob, great job!

20160723_113312 — After careful consideration, this person chose a tall sugar maple to plant in her space, but other people wanted smaller ones. Luckily, we seemed to have the right size for each person.

Boy Scouts to the Rescue

I want to give a great big THANK YOU to Ty Jensen of Scout Troop 68, Naperville, and his family, friends, and fellow scouts.

20160716_131718 — Ty Jensen (far right standing in white shirt) and his crew of family, friends, and fellow scouts after digging up sugar maple trees to give away at Veggie fest.

Ty Jensen volunteered to help with this project which he used for his Eagle Scout Service Project. What a great idea, Ty!

Ty’s help is critical in getting approximately 1,000 seedlings potted up, transported to the scene, and given away Veggie Fest. He also organized a fund raiser to help cover the cost of materials so that we can give these trees away for FREE.

Crew at work — This is one of the 3 crews that Ty recruited. and organized. The crews worked simultaneously to get this big job done.

20160716_121100 — On each team, some people loosen the soil around the roots of the saplings with a pitch fork. Others gently dug the saplings out the ground so as not to break the roots and then immediately put them into tall, 32 oz cups so the delicate root hairs would not dry out. And other gathered the potted seedlings and carried them to the staging area where they were watered.

Everyone helped, even the little girls who kept a fresh supply of pots for each team to plant in, in between petting the puppy, of course.

We’ll be at Veggie Fest 2016!

We’ll be at Veggie Fest 2016 on July 23-24 so come to our booth and get your free Sugar Maple Seedling!

Vegetarian fairs and expos are happening all over the world including Canada, Belgium, Hong Kong, Australia, Israel, Thailand, the UK, France, Malta, India, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, and twenty states in the U.S.? They all have vegetarian fairs and expos – lots of them. Vegan or vegetarian, it’s the most popular food trend in the world today and growing exponentially.

Veggie Fest Chicago is one of the largest vegetarian food and lifestyle festivals in North America. The two-day festival, which drew record-breaking crowds of over 35,000 people from around the world last year, will be held at 4045 Naperville Rd. in Lisle, IL.

With a huge international food court; health professionals speaking on diet, lifestyle, and environmental issues; engaging food demos by restaurant owners, chefs, and authors; an incredible children’s tent with face painting, clowns, and crafts; live music from some of Chicago’s best bands; over 100 vendor booths to explore; and free admission and free parking, Veggie Fest has become a highly anticipated summer event in the Chicagoland area.

Over the last ten years, Chicagoland residents have come to look forward to the annual festival, and event organizers are expecting another year of record-breaking attendance. With free admission, free parking, and tons of fun for the whole family, make sure you put July 23-24, 2016 on your calendar now so you don’t miss out on the 11th annual Veggie Fest! Go to www.veggiefestchicago.org for more information.