Father’s Day is on June 15th, and it’s fast approaching!

In our house Father’s Day tends to get slightly overlooked – like most families, I expect, it plays second fiddle to Mother’s day.

Being a fairly traditional farming family here at Hall Farm, it tends to be Mum who does a lot more work for the children so it’s and easy way for the kids to show their appreciation for all she does.

Dad’s contribution is a little more hands-off, generally involving long hours in a field, chicken shed or smokehouse – so out of sight, out of mind!

I’ll usually get a card from my daughter if they have made one at school, you never know I might get treated to Steak and Chips at home, if I’m lucky (heartbreaking, isn’t it!).

What’s the perfect gift for food loving dad on Father’s Day?

This got me thinking about what would be a dream Father’s Day gift – the conclusion I came to is, what dad isn’t going to like a selection of out of the ordinary foodie treats that they wouldn’t normally get?

As such, I think an ideal father’s day present would be a little food hamper with a selection of items chosen to suit your Dad’s specific tastes (perhaps one of the delicious meat hampers uk that we have recently stocked our shelves with)

Personally, my ideal hamper would contain a beautiful chunk of Smoked Meat, maybe some Salami or Pate; a selection of Cheeses would be a necessity and, if I was really pushing the boat out, a couple of jars of Chutneys or Mustards.

Obviously something nice to drink will go down well – maybe a bottle or two of local real ale if that’s your father’s tipple, but if not, then find him a nice drink that you know he’ll love.

Brewery-wise, we’ve got Woodford’s and The Brewhouse based in Fakenham, both fine local Ale producers here in Norfolk.

These days there are also a lot of local independent microbreweries around the country that you could buy from a local farm market or deli close to your home.

The idea is to get him something a bit different, something with a bit of character that you wouldn’t normally get in the weekly shop and something that he’s likely to remember.

What will I be buying for my own dad for fathers day?

The family and I will be probably be having lunch with my Dad, maybe have a pint or two afterwards down at our local pub.

Instead of making him a card like my daughter, I’ll maybe smoke him some Duck and put that in a hamper for him.

I also know he likes cheese so I’ll probably get him a slab of fine cheese to take home.

There’s a good local Norfolk cheese producer called Mrs Temple’s Cheeses based at Holkham Hall near Fakenham.

Alternatively I know another great local cheese producer in Norwich called Feilding Cottages who make fantastic Goat Cheese.

I’m not sure if my father’s too keen on Goat’s Cheese, though – If I gave it to him and didn’t tell him he’d probably like it!

Enter our competition to win a free Hamper

Enter our Father’s Day Hamper Competition and win a hamper containing some delicious artisan foods from our favourite local producers!

Simply visit the Father’s day competition page to enter.