When Ms Barry moved to Gulgong, she was inspired by Instagram accounts depicting honesty produce stalls and was motivated to start a similar concept locally.

"I started the 'Seed and Crop Swap- Gulgong and Surrounds' Facebook group when I first moved to Gulgong five years ago," Ms Barry said.

"Then in 2021 I held my first free community sharing stand on my porch in Gulgong."

Ms Barry holds a regular free community stall at her residence- from seeds to seedlings, cut flowers, herbs and produce - it is all free to anyone in her community. She has a 'stall etiquette' sign on her stand to remind passers-by to only take what they need, and to not take items for others.

Ms Barry says she receives many positive reactions to her stall.

"I think people are surprised- in this day and age, it's unusual that something is free," she said.

"I didn't want to try the honesty box system - I just wanted produce, seedlings and seed to be free to anyone," she said.

Ms Barry was recently interviewed about her free community stand, reinforcing that her unique concept is of great interest to the wider regional community as well.

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"I believe that regional communities are very open to supporting each other, and that people like the concept of swapping and bartering, but that it can be quite an uncomfortable space because we're not used to it," Ms Barry said.

"We have so much abundance in different ways, and the practice of sharing freely is a way to make sure that everyone has enough, no matter how much money anyone has."

Ms Barry wants to encourage others to think about moving from the idea of 'self-sufficiency' into 'community sufficiency.' She aims to dispel three myths people have about growing and eating fresh through social media.

Eating fresh produce does not have to be expensive, cooking from scratch doesn't have to be time consuming and you don't have to own where you live to grow your own food," she said.

"Start small, you can even use pots on a balcony or herbs on a windowsill."

Ms Barry recommends people join local groups, community gardens and social media as ways to learn about growing food and food resilience. For more information on her free community stand, Ms Barry welcomes contact via her Instagram account or Facebook group.