I joined 100 diners at a stunning al fresco meal to sample some of Sussex's freshest food

Even more so when your dinner is served outside on a warm summer’s night, as the sun sets next to a stunning flower garden in the West Sussex countryside.

That was the experience I had when I joined a summer supper club this week, run by The Sussex Peasant and its founder Ed Johnstone.

Located at Pitfield Barn Flower Farm in Hurstpierpoint, more than 100 people dined together at a long family-style table enjoying a feast of barbecued meats, vegetable dishes and salads.

Everything being served came from the farmers and food producers Ed works with at The Sussex Peasant, a food business that creates a simple food chain connecting farmers with the local community.

Ed is running three supper clubs this year, and Tuesday’s was the first one. He said: “When I started The Sussex Peasant eight years ago, I never imagined we'd one day be gathering so many people together to celebrate local food in this way. Looking around the tables tonight, surrounded by our producers, customers and team, it's incredibly humbling to see what this community has become.

“Everything we cooked came from our producers, with every ingredient sourced from within around 35 miles of Pitfield Barn. That says so much about the richness of food here in Sussex and the incredible people who grow, rear and make it. To be able to create something that supports so many local farms and businesses, while bringing everyone together to share an evening like this, is really special. It feels like a celebration of everything The Sussex Peasant stands for."

Ed’s business creates a direct line from Sussex farms to the people who live here, through a fleet of mobile farm shops travelling across East and West Sussex. The Sussex Peasant also runs a seasonal series of larger food markets where customers can meet the producers.

As guests arrived, they were served a delicious glass of Poynings Grange sparkling wine from the vineyard just three miles away. After some mingling and wandering through the flowers, Ed said a few words about the origins of his business and the importance of eating local produce.

And then, the main event – we could help ourselves to a plentiful array of dishes.

From chicken, sausages, pulled pork and mushrooms on the barbecue, to fresh salads, grilled vegetables and new potatoes. Everything tasted fresh and full of flavour, and everything came from within a 30-mile radius.

And it was made all the lovelier by getting to dine with strangers that became friends. As well as eating with Karmen, who does some PR work for Ed, we met a lovely guy who is a customer at Ed’s Ditchling market, and we chatted to a brilliant group of South Americans who were in the UK for a series of conferences and workshops to help their advocacy work for small, indigenous communities in their home countries.

It was fascinating to hear about their work, and I loved the fact that this dinner had brought together a group of people who would never otherwise have met, but who forged ties through the simple pleasure of sharing a meal together.

Two hours passed in a flash, and before we knew it we had polished off the sweetest and more fragrant strawberries I’d ever tasted, with cream and meringue and we were saying our goodbyes.

I’d been nervous to attend a dinner on my own, but it was a fabulous experience for all sorts of reasons. Farm to table eating is a practice that’s been a bit lost in the UK, so it’s lovely to attend an event like this that is not only bringing it back, but forging a little community in doing so.

For more information about the two upcoming supper clubs, see https://thesussexpeasant.co.uk/events/