A pack of vandals destroyed a garden that a British activist cultivated to feed her community — and now supporters are rallying around her.
Carly Burd of Harlow, Essex, went viral for her tearful TikTok in which she claims assailants poured enough salt on her allotment to destroy potatoes and onions that could’ve fed more than 300 people during these hard economic times.
Posted on Tuesday, the clip already has more 2.5 million views on the platform.
“I came down on Saturday morning and I just tasted and saw [the salt],” Burd, who is in her mid-40s, told Kennedy News and Media. “Five kilograms-plus [about 11 pounds] of salt has been poured over my garden. It wasn’t a kid grabbing it — it was an adult who knew what they were doing.
“What’s heart-wrenching is that those onions were planted by children, and they really put their effort in to put something back into the community,” she added.
Burd, a mother of three who lives with multiple sclerosis and lupus, started growing seasonal vegetables in her own back garden before expanding into a nearby lot.
She claimed that she’s fed more than 1,600 people for free using hand-grown vegetables since last July.
But not anymore.
“I felt like I’d been kicked in the face. I have no other explanation for it,” Burd continued. “Who would do that? It’s just the most repulsive act I’ve ever known.
“[There’s a huge] amount of people that it’s going to affect; it’s also affecting nature. All of the nature that’s in the ground, all the worms — they’re all dead. It has a massive impact.”
Burd plans to report the incident to the police and is now envisioning turning the destruction into an outdoor space where the community can enjoy tea, coffee and meals together.
“All I can do at the moment is keep cracking on — I can’t do anything else,” she said.
However, she remains undeterred.
The gardener plans to keep on growing food in a different section of the allotment so that she can still deliver food parcels to hungry Harlowers.
Burd also started a GoFundMe page that quickly surpassed its $5,000 goal: More than 5,200 donors have contributed over $112,000.
Her TikTok also garnered more than 300,400 likes and 19,2000 comments, many of which shared condolences for Burd’s wasted work.
“Why would someone do this? What is wrong with people? I’m so sorry,” one commented.
A second said: “What a strange thing for someone to do. It’s clearly someone who knows it would kill the soil. I did not know salt could do that.”
“How bizarre and horrendous, obviously. I’m lost for words. Is it like a personal attack? I’m so sorry for you,” another said.
One surmised: “No way! This person brought salt, thought it out and came to her garden prepared to damage. They were definitely targeting her individually.”