Saving the Farm and the Waldheim from COVID19

Saving Hill Spectre Farm with The Waldheim Tavern
*Herberth, better known as Bert, is our Blonde Hungarian Mangalitsa pig, what a sweet animal!

I tell people that dropping everything at forty years old to build a farm was the hardest thing I have ever done.  But that pales in comparison to writing this - an introduction to a plea for help.  I ended up on the farm three years ago as a break, a reset… a chance to break the cycle of impulsive decision making I had fallen into and an opportunity to gain some much-needed perspective.  After spending a lifetime in the perpetual second shift grind of the restaurant business life had become dangerously mundane.  Little did I know that within a year of moving to the farm I would have uncovered a passion and aptitude for full on farming;  what started with chickens progressed to sheep, goats, pigs, guinea hens and geese.  The animals worked in tandem chaos in rotational grazing patterns, which ensured no pesticides or fertilizers and minimal large equipment were needed.  This meant a lot of time spent doing manual labor, of course. But if a man needs time to reflect, digging in 400+ fence posts provides plenty of time for reflection. In those hours of physical work and solitude, I unlearned a lot of behaviors to make room for new endeavors on the farm.  Sacrifice is a cornerstone of farming, and it is only in glimpses of beauty and wonder where you can find a meaningful balance of love and labor on the farm.  Working the land with your hands, raising animals, gardening with hands in the soil – these all embed farming into your DNA by allowing you moments to bear witness to the wonders of the natural order.  The sowing of seeds, the birthing of baby goats and piglets, the hatching of chicks and goslings are wonderous things to behold and instill a deep sense of one’s place in the world. Observing life through a Farmer’s lens has certainly done so for me.   

     *Another beautiful sunrise over the Susquehannock forest.
* The matriarch and her loyal family.


After all the beautiful sunrises, baby goats and magical snowfalls come the hardships of farming.  Mostly are common knowledge - the back breaking physical work, the long hours with no vacations, the buying of supplies, feed and seeds at retail while selling goods at near wholesale, all  just to compete with large scale farms that dominate the market.  And after two years, I had to acknowledge that the financials of the operation were gone.  In the summer of 2019, it was time to go big or sell off the animals and go back to the normal workforce.  So, I decided to double down on financing the farm by opening the restaurant at the bottom of the hill, just a couple of hundred yards from the farm; a true Farm to Table restaurant, The Waldheim Tavern.

*Raising Dwarf Nigerian Goats has been the surprise pleasure for the last three years, what wonderful animals.

The township records say The Waldheim was built in 1938… but the old timbers tell a different story.  Those timbers and those walls would tell stories of families, hunters, snowmobile riders, fishermen and residents stopping for food and libations for decades.  Germania is a town that has been around for generations, but like most small American towns it suffers the consequences of outsourced production and manufacturing, the constant battles against industrial farming models and the diminished budgets of public services and facilities.  Regardless of the challenges Germania faces, we are proud to call our small town our home, as there is a history and legacy that fuels this pride. When I first moved here it was not long before I realized that the community was starved of a passionate restauranteur.  The local businesses do a fine job for the community, but I knew I could offer more with my 25 years of experience in the restaurant business. I knew that there were jobs to be made, training to be given, lives to be empowered to grow and succeed. 

*Viviana has no problem staying still just long enough for a photo op...

It was clear that taking over The Waldheim would be beneficial to both the farm but also the community as well.  It was a tremendous amount of work but with proper execution and some good luck there was a real chance of running a restaurant and its own farm.  In June 2019 I began negotiations for the Waldheim and by August we had struck a deal…the problem was I made a deal with no money. Big Problem.  But by grace, resourcefulness and hard work, I was able to secure an opening budget and a considerate opening investor by mid-August.  By October, the restaurant had undergone some serious repairs, cleaning, re-outfitting and a serious internal facelift.  We were ready to open, with no liquor license, The Waldheim Tavern.

*The house favorite, Potter County Poutine; Boardwalk style fries, pulled pork, red wine gravy and Wisconsin cheese curds.

*The highly sought after bacon, bleu cheese and caramelized onion burger.

*Home grown double cut family style pork chops, from heritage Large Black Hogs.

*Getting ready to pan sear another home grown smoked ham steak.

*More home grown maple cured hickory smoked bacon.

The Waldheim Tavern in small town Germania is a 90 seat restaurant tucked into the middle of the Susquehannock forest of Northern Pennsylvania.  The handwritten chalkboard menus focused on farm fresh ingredients prepared with classic simple techniques.  The food was simple tavern fare of sandwiches, roast beef sliced to order at the bar, a northern Pennsylvania take on a classic Poutine and freshly made Tavern Bread Pudding.  Guests loved the food and the ambiance and were excited for the final installment of a liquor license.  The menu, modest in size and all made in-house, featured great food - but people are what made it worth it.  From the dedicated passionate employees to whom I am forever indebted, to the guests who enjoyed our food enough to quickly become regulars - it was my sincere pleasure to serve the best I could offer.

* South Philly Tortellini with four year old Parmesan, home grown Italian pork sausage and broccoli rabe.

I knew that opening a restaurant in late fall in an area that almost entirely depends on hunting and winters sports to survive was a risk, but we did it anyway and hit the ground running. The small menu was received with open arms, happy mouths and big smiles.  The employees knew instantly that their boss was someone who was highly motivated, highly knowledgeable and committed to his vision.  We rallied through the holidays even after the exhaustion of the opening, and with some investment we made it through the anticipated dredges of February and March.  We were making good food in a fun environment and the guests knew that there was something special going on from the moment they walked in the door.  This was not the same old Waldheim and it was still just a baby without its bottle.

*Squash season on the farm means Sweet Potato Soup and Roasted Acorn Squash at The Waldheim.

*Farm fresh charentaise melons for salads...

* Sweet little yellow cherry tomatoes were delicious fresh of the vine and into the salad.

The relationship between the farm and the Waldheim was instantly symbiotic; we served southern fried green tomatoes to rave reviews for the first four weeks of business, home grown potatoes were used for fresh cut fries the entire month of February, and the menu featured local pasture raised heritage pork and lamb specials every night.  It was an inadvertent cooks dream come true. I would spend the mornings tending to my gardens and livestock then shift gears to run a restaurant in the evenings, five nights a week.  Operating as a food-centric restaurant allowed us to zero in on our operations by not using liquor sales as a cash flow crutch, hiding operation problems that are exposed only when running on very lean cash flow.  The farm to table relationship PLUS having an experienced restaurant and hospitality veteran running the show made for an experience that ensured everyone who came in left feeling that The Waldheim Tavern was a special place.

*Farm fresh eggs are a game changer with food in the restaurant.

The Waldheim faced a tough January and February with little snow to keep winter enthusiasts coming to the Pennsylvania wilds for fun in the snow.  We survived, although not without amassing debt, and managed to make it to April. That is a significant month in Potter County - fishing season starts mid-month, and the promise of Spring weather brings campers, vacationers, and fun seekers. But on March 16th it was made public that there was a complete shut down; and by April 1st I looked at my head cook and said, “we made it to April but COVID is going to kill us”.   It was a comment made half in jest but ended up being a foreshadowing statement. Over the next few weeks my cook and I were able to instantly adapt to curbside drive away service with plans to utilize my one-acre yard with large picnic tables for outdoor dining, that would be a saving grace.  But by mid-April, my payroll was finished, and I was running solo except for my cook who was taking home a split of the revenue since I had to lay him off.  The Waldheim was closed by the last week of April with a very uncertain future.

*Hargrid the resident Dorper Sheep Ram, what a character, he is aptly named

Since the closure of the Waldheim, the farm had been sustaining the goats, piglets, chickens and geese with the good will of others through donations and the sale of what pork and lamb we had left in our freezers.  The revenue of good will saw us through our futile efforts of obtaining any COVID19 relief funds.  The money continued to run out, we were heartbreakingly forced to sell off most of our heritage pigs, phasing out our pastured pig program.  With the dwindling finances I have been forced to look at all options, moving from the farm to a job that allows me to retain the real estate or taking over a QSR with an hour commute.  But after the interviews and meetings and the revamping of the resume, it became clear that the offers coming in were not going to work.  My life is here on this farm taking care of these animals, using the fruits of that labor to feed my community and help a few families along the way. I have been taught over the years that restaurants can be so much more than just a place to get something to eat.  With the right leadership, creativity and compassion restaurants can bring great and positive changes to a community.   I am now at the end of my rope – and am turning to you – my friends, family and cohorts – people who have met me and believed in me, and strangers with whom my story resonates. I am asking for help to see my dream out of the ashes and built into a sustainable local business that can work towards the prosperity of Germania.



Now when it comes to the financing of the farm, it is the restaurant that is the means to the farm being financed.  The farm itself has just a few projects that require immediate attention - mainly infrastructure issues relating to water supply to the various farm entities (the poultry, livestock and the gardens) and additional fencing to keep the animals in and the predators out.  The Tavern is what requires most of my attention, work and financing. The funds necessary to restore The Waldheim to working order are needed to pay off back debts including utilities, insurance and labor.  There is also the looming expense of having a management contract for the liquor license drawn up by an attorney, the purchase of lumber and labor to build picnic tables for outdoor dining and the purchase of new inventories.

*The amaretto mascarpone cheesecake

Over the past ninety days I have experienced a lot of support, many downfalls and endless frustrations but if living as a farmer has taught me anything is that the most important thing is to get back up.  I am so grateful for the support I have already received it makes it ironic how difficult it is to ask for help.  With the many lessons in humility that have been thrust upon me here at the farm I have also had the lesson distilled into me that a person has to leave room for grace in our lives;  by asking for help I get to do exactly that.  People need to know there is a need before they can become angels in our lives, no one is able to know unless we invite them in.  So here I am, I am asking for your help, I am inviting you into my life, my dream of having a small restaurant that supports a small farm that helps keep a community together and continues to bring good food to the family dinner table.

*The sweetest sow ever, Julie the Berkshire. enjoying an afternoon feeding with her litter.

In reviewing the financials and totaling the amount of capital needed to tighten up farm infrastructure, reopen The Waldheim and all associated fees we are looking at almost the same amount of money that was lost being closed  for the month of April; $14,000.  It does not sound like much but after being too small and too new to qualify for federal support, that may as well be one million dollars, but I have not come this far to give up now.  I believe there are people who want to help.   I do not know how to properly convey appreciation before the fact, but I can tell you that even the smallest amount of help and encouragement goes further than anyone can imagine.  I never realized how many friends and their families pay attention to my farm on social media.  Over the last few weeks you have offered up so much support and encouragement that I had to slow everything down and allow myself to remember that I have something very special here.  I must give this wild little dream one more shot. I am asking for your help to save this awesome little farm and I am thanking you with every part of my being for anything you can contribute to this fund.



 As this campaign stays up, I will continue to add videos and honor requests for pictures, videos and insights.  I am more than happy to elaborate on this crazy life I have here on the top of the hill, so feel free to make requests or send me emails.

Until then enjoy my instagram account www.instagram.com/farmspectre 

And do not miss the Waldheim Taverns Facebook page www.facebook.com/waldheimtavern 

Thank you for taking the time and thank you for anything you can do,

Daniel