Gardener 'heartbroken' after thugs destroy allotment drop that would have fed hundreds of people
Carly Burd posted this tearful TikTok after she found her allotment destroyed.
A gardener who has grown food for thousands of people in need in her community has been left "heartbroken" after her allotment was vandalised.
Thugs got onto Carly Burd's land overnight on Monday and spread salt over the ground, making it unusable for growing vegetables.
In posts on TikTok, Ms Burd tearfully explained to her followers the devastating impact the attack had had on her and her allotment.
"I'm absolutely heartbroken... someone has put salt all over the land. That means everything I've planted won't grow and I can't re-plant on it," she said, through tears.
"So all the hours and hours and hours of work that we've put in, is now dead.
"It's so cruel, it's so wicked, how could they do that?"
She told ITV News Anglia she had lost at least 300 sets of onions which had been planted by children at the allotment in Harlow in Essex, and five full rows of potatoes.
She said she thought the attack had been targeted and deliberate, and estimates that vandals used at least 5kg of salt to make sure she was unable to grow on the patch this year.
Ms Burd has previously featured on ITV News Anglia for her green-fingered efforts in growing fresh produce for thousands of people in need, despite her own health struggles.
She said: "They used a massive amount of salt.
"All of those potatoes and onions would have gone to families who need it. It's had a devastating impact on the land and on the soil."
The incident has been reported to police, said Ms Burd.
Essex police have been approached for comment.
She said the incident would not stop her from continuing her efforts to help the community.
"I should be able to cover it in topsoil and hopefully neutralise it so I'll be able to grow something on it," she said.
"I think I'm going to turn it into a seating area where elders can come down, we can have tea, coffee and cakes and chat.
"Hopefully [there will be] a little cook station where different ethnic groups in our community can come down and take turns cooking meals."
Ms Burd has been keeping track of how many people she has helped and said she has been able to feed around 1,600 people from her allotment.
She turned her garden into a mini allotment last year and has been handing out food bags containing her own home-grown produce for free to people struggling with the cost of living crisis.
Ms Burd has multiple sclerosis and lives with her three children in Harlow.
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