From our family to yours…
Our Chicken
Why Cornish Cross chickens?
Cornish Cross bred chickens are the most commonly raised breed of meat chickens in North America. Sometimes getting a bad rap for their quick growth rate, here on the farm we raise them a little different to better support and slow their growth.
We like this breed because they’re the chicken our community know and loves — juicy, meaty, and tender. Plus as a farm we appreciate how efficient they are with feed and water allowing us to raise meat using less resources.
About our chicken
Our birds arrive on the farm the day they’re hatched and are housed in a temperature controlled barn to make sure they have the exact conditions they need to thrive as chicks. We monitor feed and watch water consumption, heat and humidity to give them a strong start to be healthy birds.
Once they reach 14 days old and are large enough to handle outdoor conditions, we open the large doors to the barn so they can free-range into grass pasture behind their house.
Depending on the weather conditions and time of day, our chicken will come and go from the barn at their discretion. Regardless of their choice our barn doors are 10 feet wide and 10 feet tall allowing lots of fresh air and natural light to come in.
Our birds have constant access to a high-quality non-GMO feed and fresh water from the underground aquifer here at the farm. At night, the chickens will naturally come inside since they’re attracted to the interior lights of the barn but soon after it becomes dark outside our barn lights shut off automatically allowing them to sleep until the sun comes up.
Our Eggs
Why Rhode Island Red chickens?
While those blue, green, and blush eggs are stunning, the hens responsible for those lovely eggs don’t typically lay as many eggs per year and therefore it costs more to offer those eggs.
Here at Central Park Farms, we raise a Rhode Island Red hybrid brown egg layer because they lay a good number of large brown eggs each year meaning we can provide this healthy protein source to our community at a good price.
About our eggs
Our eggs come from hens that have unlimited access to fresh air and open pasture. The birds at Central Park Farms are fed a diet of certified organic feed that is non-GMO meaning it contains no soy or corn. We never vaccinate or medicate our chickens.
The yolks of our eggs are a deep and rich orange and incredibly flavourful. They’re our most complimented products, hands-down.
Available in both cartons or flats of 30 eggs, they’re available both online and in our farm shop.
Our Pork
Why pink pigs?
We raise Yorkshire and Landrace cross pigs aka ‘pink pigs’ here on the farm. Although it’s not very common to raise pink pigs on pasture, for us, we’ve decided to raise a breed that gives folks the kind of meat they’re used to only in a way that aligns with their values and with superior flavour.
Originally from England in the 18th century, Yorkshire breed pigs are known as the ‘bacon breed’ because of their long bodies. With our focus on genetics, our decision to cross with Landrace genetics supports our breeding program since they’re knows for farrowing (birthing) large pigs, great milk production and for producing a quality finish of meat.
About our pork
All our pigs are raised on pasture here on the farm and raised on a diet that’s non-GMO containing no soy and no corn. We’re proud to be a non-medicated meat producer so while we’ll never withhold medical treatment to an animal, any animals treated with medication are removed from the Central Park Farms program and never makes it to our customers.
Hormone use is illegal in Canadian pork farming so just like all farms in our area, our pork is free of added hormones.
When it comes to the butchery of our pork, we focus on an old school craft style of butchery. Our cured products like bacon and ham is smoked without nitrates and our sausages are crafted without gluten or dairy.
Once our butchers are done, all our pork is vacuum packed and blast frozen to extend the life in your freezer — And with that, it’s ready to feed your family.
Our Beef
Why Black Angus cattle?
As a farm that raises 100% grass fed and grass finished beef, the breed we choose is even more important to be able to bring you beautifully finished beef.
Black Angus beef is known to taste better and be more tender than some other breeds of beef because of its fat marbling — Something this breed is well known for.
Originally from Angus Scotland, Angus cattle has become one of the most popular breeds in North America. We love raising Black Angus because of their medium size, the fact that they’re naturally polled (don’t have horns), and their good temperament.
As we grew as a farm, we moved cattle to the ranch in Rock Creek allowing them more wide open space to roam which works well since Black Angus thrive in cold climates so Rock Creek winters are no problem for them.
About our beef
Since our cattle thrive on a grain-free diet, our genetic selection for our Black Angus cattle is important to give us premium flavour and marbling for our 100% grass fed, and grass finished beef.
All cattle is grass-fed for at least a portion of its life and therefore the term ‘grass fed’ doesn’t always mean what you think it might. The key if you want truly grain-free beef is to make sure the beef you’re buying is grass fed and grass finished — Just like ours.
Although hormone use is legal in Canadian beef, we choose to raise our beef without the use of added hormones to produce truly natural beef.
Since we’re committed to transparency, any animals treated with medication are sold outside of the meat you buy from the farm. Since we’ll never withhold medical care to our animals, we take this step so you feel assured that the meat you purchase from Central Park Farms has never been treated with antibiotics or other medication.
With our beef, we take a craft-butchery approach. Even though it costs us more, we choose to dry-age our beef as opposed to wet-aging because it leads to the best possible product for you, beef that’s more tender and flavourful than what you might be used to.
Our butchers keep a close eye on each beef carcass to determine the best possible cut date based on how that specific carcass is aging. We’re always 14 to 21 days dry aged and unlike many meat shops we even dry age our ground beef bringing you a truly premium ground beef.
For increased traceability and quality, we do single animal butchery meaning the meat in our ground and sausages will only ever be from one animal.
Once our meat is cut, it’s vacuum packaged to seal in freshness and then flash frozen — Ready to arrive to your home.
Our Prepared Foods
Why chef crafted meals?
Our relationship with Chef Adrian of Salt & Thyme started many years ago when he first started sourcing meat from us for his restaurant Seasonal 56. At the time, he was also offering frozen meals to his customers and with how busy we were on the farm, we soon found these meals were becoming a staple in our own home.
It was Jay who first mentioned that we should see if Chef Adrian would let us offer them to our customers as well.
What started as us offering just chicken pot pies and broth made with our free-range chicken, is now an extensive collection of meals, desserts, side-dishes, and ingredients like sauces and gravies.
Our favourite part of our line of chef-crafted prepared foods is how it perfectly aligns with our goal of reducing food waste and honouring our animals by making sure every bit of meat goes to nourish our community.
Chef Adrian works closely with us to develop products that make use of items we have abundance of, but that might not sell as quickly.
About our chef-crafted food
While you’ll find some tried-and-true customer favourites are available year round like our beef lasagna, and shepherds pie, other times Chef Adrian works with what’s available here on our farm and the produce that is seasonally available at the local farms he gets his ingredients from.
During the summer months he freezes fresh tree fruits that later become our seasonal fruit crisps for those moments when you want an effort-free dessert that tastes of the season past.
Some of the items make a stand alone meal, others help take the pressure of the main course off your plate, and others simply make a great side dish for those days when you haven’t made it to the grocery store but need a vegetable side dish to complete dinner.
We can’t wait for you to try what’s cooking in the Salt & Thyme kitchen!
Our Raw Dog Food
Why pet food?
It all started because, as a farm focused on food waste, we wanted to find a way to make use of the bits that weren’t flying out of the freezers — The organ meat.
With our commitment to quality, we soon found ourselves producing raw dog food for custom clients under their brand names.
In 2020, we launched our own line of raw chicken and raw beef dog food that was nutritionally balanced by our animal nutritionists.
Our customers want to know what they feed their family and that includes their pets.
About our raw dog food line?
Our line of raw dog food is crafted using only human grade ingredients and has been expertly tested and balanced by the professional animal nutritionists used by our farm.
Unlike many options offered by local meat shops, we’re using a proper balance of meat, organs, bone, and fat so there’s consistency for your pet’s diet.
Both our chicken raw dog food and our beef raw dog food are balanced to meet AAFCO: The Association of American Feed Control Officials standards.
As farmers, we have a deep understanding of the importance of a strong diet on animals and we extend that knowledge to your pets.
“I just recently started purchasing from this small family owned farm. You feel valued as a customer and their meat products are fantastic! I am very picky with meat and I have loved everything I have tried. You will never get this quality and flavour at any grocery store.
I highly highly recommend this family owned company!”
- Melanie L, Google Review