The RMK had initially planned to give away 80,000 high-quality spruce saplings at its Iisaku nursery in Alliku over Friday and Saturday, but demand for the young trees was so high that by midday Friday, it was clear there was no point in even trying to join the line of cars that had already formed.

"A friend of mine who came said they got here at half past seven and they were third in line," said Illar Menind, who had driven up from Piibumäe in Peipsiääre Municipality. "I got here around 9 o'clock, and the line was about half a kilometer long — and that wasn't even that bad yet. By now the line must stretch all the way to Mustvee!"

"People have shown up from all over Estonia: Veriora, Põlva, Lääne County — nearly every county is represented," noted Toomas Väät, forest management and nursery operations director at the RMK.

"Most are saying they're going to [plant them] in the forest," he continued. "Those who came in passenger vehicles are saying they're going to plant spruce hedges. I'm glad these plants will be put to good use. People have said they're going to start planting them either right away or over the weekend."

Katrin Hannov, who drove over to Alliku from the neighboring Lääne-Viru County, praised the RMK for abandoning its original plan to destroy the leftover saplings.

"People have put a lot of work into growing these plants here, and they really are beautiful," Hannov said. "We've already come here once before, and picked up some of the nonstandard seedlings; we picked those ourselves. And when we happened to find out yesterday that they'd be giving them out today too, we rearranged all our plans to come."

Among those who showed up Friday to save the saplings was director Eili Neuhaus.

"Honestly, I'm just thrilled about the size of the crowd here, because hopefully everyone here will plant their trees," Neuhaus shared. "So it's just great! Really lifts your spirits."

Each person in line was given up to 40 sacks, or 3,000 saplings.

"These are 40-50-kilogram sacks," said Menind. "And heaving them up on your shoulder — it'll have a 50-year-old man's heart pumping hard."

This year, the RMK has an exceptional surplus of more than 2.7 million high-quality seedlings and saplings. Their fate, including whether these may also end up being distributed for free like the saplings in Alliku, will be decided by the fall planting season.

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