Conversation with Nicole Capozziello & Darryl Scott
Originally published in the Grassroots Gardens WNY 2023 Annual Report
For a long time, the lot near the corner of Herman and Sycamore was a lot like many others on the East Side: overgrown, trash-filled, neglected. However, to the group of guys who hung out together at a friend’s auto shop across the street, it became something else: a place of possibility.
With this in mind, the group, led by Lloyd Crawford, set out to transform the three vacant lots into a community garden. They cleared the piles of debris, cut the grass, and got in touch with Grassroots Gardens, which started them off with four modest beds. They named the space J.W. Murphy Garden, in honor of a friend who had passed away.
Now in its fifth season, J.W. Murphy remains a place of connection for the group of men, who meet up there most Sundays during the season, and many days in between to water, weed, and harvest from the garden’s now 10 beds. The Grassroots Garden is also a growing place of connection for nearby residents, who are united around improving their neighborhood, growing their own food, and winning the war against the local groundhog population.
We caught up with lead gardener Darryl Scott to learn about the past, present, and future of this special place.
What do you grow at your garden?
DS: We grow everything from okra to collard greens, peppers, string beans, cabbage, lots of tomatoes. There’s kale growing there now that made it from last season. I also love watermelon. My family has a long history down South of watermelon farming. I just learned about all of this – we were at a family reunion in Georgia few years ago and it turns out that my great-grandfather, Spencer Randolph, was basically involved in grafting blonde watermelons in Arkansas. We grow watermelon here but there’s nothing like a yellow watermelon.
What do you and the other gardeners get out of being part of the garden?
DS: It’s a way of giving back. We get a sense of doing something for the community – and for us. We do barbeques for holidays out here, like Father’s Day, and this year we were out here all day on the eclipse. And then during football season, we’ll be out here tailgating. My kids come out here and help water, and help with harvesting. We also gather around the anniversaries of some of the people we’ve lost, the guys that used to hang out here who are no longer with us.
What vision do you have for the garden?
DS: My vision is to have the city turn over the land to the garden. This would enable us to do things without restrictions, like add permanent structures like a greenhouse so we can do gardening activities year-round. We’d also like to find a way to sufficiently collect rainwater so that we’re able to provide the majority of our own water.
JW Murphy Community Garden experienced further expansion in 2025, when National Fuel Gas Company purchased and installed new metal beds, increasing the garden’s growing capacity.
Volunteers from National Fuel constructed and filled the new beds alongside community gardeners as part of their annual Days of Doing service campaign.
