History

Apollo Farm was created by Joshua Hall, a retired journalist, teacher & internationally published wine writer. Joshua has been gardening since his grandmother taught him weed identification and soil development as a child. Having lived in the Pacific and Asia; Joshua also loves color and variety of form. He has formally studied Art History and Graphic design at two universities. 

Joshua became interested in dahlias while working for Dr Keith Hammett as a gardener after returning to New Zealand. He quickly developed an interest in the beauty and variety of this genus. He started collecting Dr Hammett's breeding rejects then breeding those plants together in one garden. Some of the results are available on the Apollo Farm website now.

Joshua was also growing forty two types of heirloom organic tomatoes at this time which proved popular with locals. 

Joshua then built four new garden beds on the property bringing trailer loads in mulch and aged compost by hand. At one point the washing line, which was embedded in a concrete slab was moved via chains and the SUV to make room for yet another dahlia garden!

Dahlias need dividing every two to three years. Dahlias and tomatoes quickly took over the property. 

Living in Waitakere, flat horticultural land is in short supply. Joshua struck a deal with the neighbors to lease a gently sloped field on the same road with a shed and road access. Work would be a 3min commute!

Ground was broken August 2018, but this time it wouldn't be all done by hand. Contractors were employed and locals helped to extend the driveway to the shed, mow grass and rotary hoe the soil. Beers and wine were distributed.

As well as dahlias, Joshua grew organic tomatoes outdoor on bamboo trellises 3m tall, organic market garden greens and pumpkins and sold these via a roadside stall. He also started seriously trapping predators and pests on the property and on neighbouring properties.

Joshua was selling dahlia tubers to locals who asked him to divide the tuber clumps for them. Rather than add to his list of jobs to do on the farm, Joshua decided to start teaching about dahlias, their anatomy, life cycle and correct techniques for tuber division.

He enlisted the world famous authority on dahlias, Dr Keith Hammett for science and history teaching in these workshops. Flower farmers and home gardeners drove from as far as three hours away to attend the workshops.

The workshops ran for four years through Covid-19, and even online during lockdown. By the winter of 2023 the workshops had evolved into a 4.5 hour Dahlia Masterclass with practical tasks, theory, homework, online videos and an exam. 

Back in 2020 Joshua attended the Waihi Dahlia Flower show, saw some flowers and said to Dr Hammett, "I've got better at home flowers than this." A month later, the night before Valentine's Day, after finishing bouquets for locals, he picked 200 flowers from 9pm to midnight via torchlight. Then woke up at 3.30am, drove to the Hamilton Gardens and started staging flowers at 7am. Joshua then won three trophies, two ribbons for two champions blooms and twenty seven prizes for his dahlias. The New Zealand National Dahlia Society members and Joshua were quite shocked. Dr Hammett said, "I'm impressed. You've done well to get on the champions table in your first show."

Photo copyright Lottie Hedley shooting for the NZ Geographic article on the Art of Exhibiting Dahlias. Thank you!

Apollo Farm continued to grow through Covid-19, two major floods, a cyclone and a drought. Systems were introduced and refined; a grid layout perfected and soil improved through investment in quality organic inputs.

The market garden lost money but was quickly replaced by more dahlias. Heirloom tomatoes proved difficult to grow outside in the drought, high humidity and rain and were discontinued to make space for more dahlias!

Joshua developed a strong interest in Tree Dahlias after multiple evaluations of Dr Hammett's historical but fading collection. He was inspired to bred Tree Dahlia 'Galaxy Prince' a cross of three hybrids and species which was evaluated through these harsh seasons.

 

 

Joshua become interested in tough flowering perennials as bee food. Bees are the workers for open pollination dahlias and are an important part of the natural ecosystem. We actually depend on them for the majority of agricultural crops. Moths, hoverflies and butterflies are also important in the garden. So Joshua selected and also evaluated flowering perennials for their durability and suitability for local conditions. A selection is now available via the website. 

Joshua Hall is currently the Partnership Manager for Predator Free Waitakere/Swanson a local non profit focused on educating local lifestyle block owners to manage their land, plants and animals to find some balance in the ecosystem. 

Joshua/Apollo Farm has also been collecting rare and unusual salvias and Joshua aims to bred these as well. With over 1000 species plus hybrids , this one is promising as a parent. Sign up to our newsletter for unusual salvia species and new breeding hybrids. 

That bring us to the next chapter, the launch of this website in November 2023. 

Gardening is a lifelong journey of learning and mindfulness. May it bring you joy, beauty and happiness.