Rooted in the Soil, Grown from Community: Co-Founder Patrick Guillory’s Journey Featured in the Houston Chronicle
At the heart of Benjamin & Farris is a seed planted not in isolation, but in the shared soil of community. That seed was sown over seven years ago, when our founder, Patrick Guillory, began volunteering at Palm Center Community Garden, learning from master gardener Terry Garner. Recently, Patrick’s story was featured in the Houston Chronicle, and we’re honored to share more about the path that led him to found Benjamin & Farris — and the people and places that continue to inspire everything we do.
“In Houston’s oldest community garden, I found hope for America’s future.” — Houston Chronicle
Patrick’s first visit to Palm Center Community Garden was not part of some grand design — it was a response to uncertainty. During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, like many of us, he was struck by the sight of bare grocery store shelves. Wanting to ensure his family had access to fresh food, Patrick started a small garden in his parents’ backyard in Alvin. But the roots of this impulse ran even deeper — his mother often spoke of her own father’s backyard garden as a place of nourishment, peace, and pride. In many ways, Patrick was simply picking up where his grandfather left off.
“He heard stories from his mother about her father’s garden when she was a child, and he wanted to recreate that.” — Houston Chronicle
This reconnection to land and lineage eventually brought Patrick to Alabama Gardens, a community green space founded nearly four decades ago with a powerful mission: to grow fresh produce for low-income neighbors in Houston’s Third Ward. However, he initially met Terry Garner at Palm Center, where his work and interest led him over to Alabama Gardens. Garner, the garden’s longtime steward and quiet force behind its legacy. Patrick has been working shoulder-to-shoulder with Terry for over seven years now, helping tend the soil, support new growers, and pass on skills to the next generation.
“Guillory and Garner… pitch in with physical labor, tilling, watering, harvesting.” — Houston Chronicle
Patrick’s experiences at Palm Center weren’t just about vegetables — they were about people. Week after week, he saw firsthand how something as simple as growing okra or collard greens could bring neighbors together, teach children resilience, and provide nourishment that went far beyond food.
It was this deeply communal, hands-on work that ultimately inspired him to create Benjamin & Farris — a sustainable landscaping and edible garden company named for the grandfathers who tilled before him. The goal was simple: to bring the spirit of Palm Center and Alabama Gardens into more neighborhoods, homes, and shared spaces across Houston and the Gulf region. To take what he learned under Terry Garner’s guidance and plant it elsewhere — intentionally, regeneratively, and with love.
Today, the work of Benjamin & Farris is a continuation of that story. Whether designing edible landscapes, teaching hands-on workshops, or restoring soil health through regenerative methods, we always center community — not just as a concept, but as a practice.
Alabama Gardens remains a living symbol of what’s possible when people care for each other and the land. We are proud to be part of that lineage and even prouder to help carry it forward.
Read the full Houston Chronicle article:
In Houston’s oldest community garden, I found hope for America’s future →
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