A SAMARITAN who has fed over 1,600 people during the cost of living crisis has been left devastated as her garden allotment has been destroyed by an anonymous vandal salting the earth.
Carly Burd decided to rip her entire garden up last June in a personal mission to help grow food and provide neighbours with crops amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Since then, 42-year-old Carly – who also suffers from multiple sclerosis – along with her son has fed hundreds through her wholesome plot of land in Harlow, Essex.
However on Saturday morning, Carly was left in tears upon discovering that her entire allotment had been ruined by the spreading of salt on her soil.
In a heart-wrenching video, Carly cries following her discovery, as she says: “I’m absolutely heartbroken, someone’s jumped over (the wall) in the night and put salt all over the land.
“That means everything that I’ve planted won’t grow and I can’t replant it because it won’t grow so all the hours and hours and hours of work that we’ve put in is now dead and they’ve done it everywhere.”
Carly tours the allotment showing huge piles of salt mixed into the soil and vegetables.
She continues: “How could you do that? I hope it makes you happy, I really do. Top person.
“You know what, you won’t stop me because I’ll just pick it all up and carry on. Okay I can’t plant in this section but I’ll carry on, you won’t stop me whatsoever.”
The video was uploaded to social media yesterday and has since received over 16,000 likes and more than 3,000 comments from shocked users who left messages of support for Carly.
One user wrote: “This is someone who knows you and knows agriculture. I (average Joe) would have no idea about the consequences of salt. Seems personal.”
Another commented: “Salting the earth to prevent food growth is a war crime according to the Geneva convention.”
A third said: “It’s probably the council.”
Another replied: “Farmer here, I’m so sorry this happened but we can fix this! You just need a lot of water and straw.”
A fifth said: “Can I help? I’m a gardener and I live 10 minutes from Harlow. Please let me know somehow and I’ll help fix it.”
Speaking today Carly said: “I turned my garden into an allotment to help people through the cost of living crisis and feed as many people as I could, with the help of local people in the community.
“After that I managed to set up a pilot scheme with the help of Harlow Council so that I could reopen Harlow allotments and give 50% back to the people that are waiting for one.
“We also deliver food parcels every week all over Harlow all for free.
“I’ve had the whole allotment since September, it’s been endless work as these allotments haven’t been touched for eight years, you can’t even imagine the overgrowth in that time it was from front to back.”
Carly continued, theorising who could be behind the cruel act: “It has to be a grower who did it, there’s not anyone else who knows that salt will do that kind of damage, that’s obvious.
“If you ask the majority of people they won’t know that salt will ruin the land.
“I’ve also spoken to the council, they’re fuming and they don’t know what’s happening, they’re currently checking that there’s no one behind closed doors promising this company land.
“I’m absolutely devastated, it’s dead land. I now can’t grow anything on it – it feels like I’ve been kicked full pelt in the face.
“My family and I have put so much into this and it hurts but I won’t give up. In fact it makes me stronger to fight this, I’ll come back three times harder and I will find the person who’s done this.
“People talk in a community – the culprit can’t be a teenager because it was about a 5kg bag of salt.
“I had over 300 onions planted, the rest of it were potatoes so it has affected so many families as well as hurt the wildlife. The worms were all fat and juicy, loving life, well they’re not anymore are they?”
Harlow council have been approached for comment.
