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Vermont Farmer Specializes in Artisan Products From the Trees & Bees

All the hours sitting in rush hour traffic in the D.C. area gave Tim Fox plenty of time to think.

About a better way to work, a better way to live and ultimately a better way to eat and nurture an ailing environment suffering from a lack of good stewardship.

The steps to creating the life he envisioned weren’t immediate. He and his wife, Emily, took a circuitous route to arrive at what’s home today, High Low Farm in Woodstock, Vermont, where they craft maple and honey and pasture-raise pigs and poultry. Their artisan products “from the trees” include three distinct grades of pure Vermont maple syrup, a maple cream spread that sells out regularly and granulated maple sugar, a yummy and healthier alternative to traditional sweetener. High Low Farm also makes products “from the bees” – raw wildflower honey delivered from the comb to the jar, a natural beeswax lip balm with a peppermint tingle, a maple foaming hand soap and pure beeswax votive candles.

“We’re doing our part as best as we can,” said Fox, who manages the 120-acre farm that contains 500 egg-laying hens and 60 pigs in addition to 2,000 maple trees that produce a gold rush of sap. “I came to realize I wasn’t going to make a big difference as an environmental consultant. But here on our farm, we’re in control. We can raise our animals and take care of our forest in a way that is sequestering carbon while also reducing the carbon food miles of my customers. They’re getting food that is way better for them without chemical input, and the land benefits from it.”

The Foxes had no definitive plan when they quit their jobs in 2012, but a nine-month hike on the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia provided plenty of time to consider their next steps. “I wanted to work for myself and be close to the land,” Tim said. “Ultimately I decided I wanted to control my own destiny and not be tied to a corporation.”

The New Jersey native was drawn to Vermont, having spent many summers there as a kid. Tim and Emily bought a small farm next to a neighbor who had 900 taps in trees during the sugaring season, a brief period from February to April when daytime temperatures rise above freezing and nighttime conditions fall below it.

A friendly agreement led to Tim taking over the operation that has since expanded to 2,000 trees. The sugaring season is short but intense and physically demanding. “You can’t miss a drop of sap because you can’t get it back,” Tim said. “The trees don’t care if you’re tired or hungry or how deep the snow is. You walk a lot of miles in frozen yucky weather.”

Sap is 98% water and 2% sugar. It takes roughly 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. After collection, the sap is boiled over an open fire and then stored in stainless steel drums before it is hot packed and bottled.

“It’s not unheard of for me to be in the sugar house for 20 hours straight and 16 of those hours we might have a full fire going,” Tim said.

Syrup, like wine, reflects its terroir. High Low Farm thrives behind sustainable practices as well as a south-facing sugarbush, sap collection to start early in the season. The flavorful syrup they make, versatile enough to complement fresh vegetables, fish and meat in addition to waffles and pancakes, benefits from the ideal microclimate.

“Making syrup is as much as art as a science,” Tim said. “You’ve got a myriad of variables. In order to produce a good crop of sugar maples, you need to be in the woods thinning them out and promoting growth.”

Days off? Rarely. “But I’m my own boss, and I love it,” Tim said.

Look for the High Low Farm booth, which now offers six varieties of salami for charcuterie, at Fall Brookdale Park (Oct. 19-20), Verona Park (May 17-18, 2025), Morristown (June 7-8, 2025) and Spring Brookdale Park (June 21-22, 2025).