Meet-a-Farmer: Robert Lehn
- Laura Wayte
- May 2
- 3 min read
Updated: May 7
We have a new garden manager named Robert Lehn. While he might be new to you, he is not new to Deck Family Farm. Robert started with us in 2020 as a student and stayed for 4 years, finally ending in the role of grazing manager. After a detour in Hawaii, he is back and plans to stay for the long term!
Robert, 32, who comes from central Minnesota and originally planned to become a doctor, arrived at Deck Family Farm in the spring of 2020 as a regenerative farming student.
Robert said he had planned to become a doctor because he was influenced by his grandfather.
“But I found out in his later years he wished he’d been a farmer,” Robert said. “And that really got the ball rolling for me on wondering if I really want to be a doctor. Also I met an old, wise woman who was a nurse and also started a cattle ranch in Minnesota. She said all the healthiest people were farmers or were at least close to farming. I think I realized I wanted a lifestyle more in tune with nature.”
So, he quit the pre-med programs at university and worked for a couple of years on a biodynamic farm and then headed to Peru to work for one year on a permaculture farm. He was obviously committed to that path so he earned a college degree in sustainable living from Maharishi University in Fairfield, Iowa. This led to two more years managing a market garden on the island of Kauai.
The Deck education program represented an opportunity to diversify by learning how to work with animals.
“We are so lucky to have Robert and Rubie back at the farm with their little baby, Loretta,” said John Deck. “He is both a skilled farmer and a communitarian.”
Robert met his wife at Deck in 2022. Rubie Lehn came to volunteer at Deck Family Farm through ATTRA that year, and the two hit it off.
“She was working in the dairy milking cows and we just got to know each other over time,” he said with a smile. They have gotten married and now have a little baby named Loretta.
Last year, Robert and Ruby headed to Hawaii where he took a job with a company called WaiHome. They work to develop an above-ground alternative to septic and sewer systems.
“In Hawaii I wasn’t farming but I was still working in sustainability,” he said. “There are a lot of cess pools in Hawaii and there’s a mandate to replace them. But a lot of people can’t afford to put in septic tanks because it's very expensive to excavate lava rock. And also septic tanks don’t necessarily work that well.”
The WaiHome system uses algae in a "Passive Aerobic Treatment Unit" to break down the dissolved nutrients in wastewater.
“It was a lot of fun and it was hard to leave since I really enjoyed working with those guys. But this was the better decision overall,” said Robert gesturing to being back on the farm with his new family.
“We decided this would be a place we’d want to raise a child and grow a family. So we came back and are happy to be here,” he said. “And the garden was available to manage and also John and Christine have given me the opportunity to potentially own the garden operation which is interesting to me. So in the coming years hopefully I”ll be taking it over.”
For now, with his late start in the garden, Robert is busy parenting and getting the soil ready for the summer crops.
“Right now the focus is to love up the ground and get it in a good state for growing,” he said. “If I had arrived here earlier that would already have been done and plants would be growing, so a little bit of a late start but we’ll get going and get food going to the CSA soon. It’s awesome being part of a CSA where other growers contribute and we have a little bit more flexibility.”
Welcome back, Robert and Rubie!
