*This post is part of a sponsored collaboration with Alvalle

As most of you will know by now, I am an avid garden dweller. I always say I grew up practically feral, surrounded by the glorious wild Kent countryside, and while the irony is that these days, I don’t actually own a garden, I’m the proud custodian of a much loved allotment, and a medium to well-tended balcony in East London. Planting and growing, or just walking around, enjoying and being in the company of plants, flowers and trees is such a hugely important part of my life, and despite the fact that I don’t have a garden in London, I feel so lucky to be able to access green spaces and nature whenever I like in this city. While it’s clearly got a fitting reputation as a polluted, fast-paced, urban, global city, of all the cities I’ve lived in, London is the greenest, and I’m sure that is why I’ve made my home here. I truly believe that, along with eating well and spending time with friends and family, gardening and time spent in nature can do so much for mental health and wellbeing.

Which is why I was delighted to be approached by the Spanish Gazpacho brand Alvalle to be a part of their ‘Gazpacho Gatherings’ this summer. Alvalle carried out a survey of 2000 people from the UK and Spain from big cities, and discovered some not-altogether-unpredictable findings – namely that our friends in Spain are nearly 30% more likely to spend more than 30 minutes on their lunch (80% of Spaniards compared with 47% of Brits). Gazpacho, for anyone who’s not familiar, is an absolutely delicious chilled vegetable soup, often (but not exclusively – there are many different variations, including green versions without tomato, and some with added bread) made with a blend of tomatoes, cucumber, onion, basil, olive oil and vinegar. It originates from Andalusia and is a wonderful summer starter that I’m very partial to when the summer warms up. Alvalle is the leading gazpacho brand in Spain, and, off the back of its findings, decided to try and spread some of the relaxed Spanish mealtime love over here in London, by hosting a series of delicious, democratic communal eating events in community gardens across the city.

The idea behind Gazpacho Gatherings is to unite people all different walks of life, but from the same city – specifically the same part of town, over good food, drink and discussion. So often in London you can live in close proximity with someone but never speak to them or even know their name, and the idea here is to make some time and space to sit with, and get to know people you might never otherwise have met – all over glasses of gazpacho and plates of delicious Spanish food. Hosting the events in gardens across London was a stroke of genius – I attended one at the beautiful, volunteer-run Culpepper Garden in Islington, a stunning walled garden filled with towering hollyhocks, swaying lavender bushes and cherry trees.

We sat at long tables in the dappled sunshine and loaded our plates at the pinchos station, skewering padron peppers, marinated artichokes and anchovies to eat with our gazpacho and then watching as a Paella specialist showed us how to cook authentic Spanish paella, which we then feasted on with glasses of well-oaked Rioja and platters of Spanish meats and cheeses. Throughout all of this, people were getting to know each other, and getting up to wander around the gardens, having a go at planting their own seeds for growing herbs, and generally just enjoying the sunshine and glorious gardens. What was lovely was that there were people of all different ages: from retirees to mums with babies, dogs and children all milling about. I think I got up to fill my plate at least twice, and in between all the eating I had some really fascinating chats with the people I was sat with, swapping pub recommendations and cooking tips. Everyone got a copy of the fantastic Alvalle recipe book to take home (see the green gazpacho recipe below), which includes all kinds of delicious Spanish recipes, as well as a kit to help them create the perfect serve of gazpacho.

It was properly inspiring stuff, and if you like the sound of it all then perhaps have a think about hosting your own gazpacho gathering while the summer is still stretching ahead of us and the weather is good. Invite some mates round, fill their glasses with wine, their bowls with gazpacho and lay a load of pinchos out for everyone to dive into. I love laying out platters of cheeses, hams, fruits, nuts, and filling bowls with some of my favourite snacky foods like marinated or good quality preserved anchovies, big juicy olives, jarred artichoke hearts (one of my storecupboard saviours) and padron peppers grilled and doused in olive oil and crunchy sea salt – all of these things are perfect against the sweetness of Alvalle gazpacho.

What you might not have realised is that gazpacho comes in all sorts of delicious colours, and I wanted to include this recipe from the Alvalle cookbook for a vivid green gazpacho. It tastes and smells like good health in a glass, with just a little fiery bite of jalapeño, and I really hope you enjoy it.