Discovery’s “The Garden: Commune or Cult” pulls back the curtain on an infamous off-the-grid community. To gain access, the crew from Hot Snakes Media embedded themselves into the group for ten grueling days. Executive producer Annie Taylor describes the shocking experience.
How did you approach and gain the trust of the group?
Since they are an off-grid community, we decided that the best way to make contact was to actually go visit them in person. In October 2022, we sent a small team including myself to the Tennessee property of the Garden to try to secure access to film. But gaining their trust wasn’t easy. Not only was the Garden still dealing with the cult allegations online, but they are also a group of anarchists who are highly suspicious of the media. In order to gain their trust, we had to fully embed in the community for 10-days and participate in every aspect of their life. We cooked and ate dumpster food in the outdoor kitchen. We did not shower. We had to use the outdoor compost toilet and waste-trenches for the bathroom. We helped with manual labor like chopping wood, harvesting produce, and helping build various structures around the property. We cleaned and fixed the community “sauna” that subsequently caught fire with us inside of it. We participated in daily councils – hours long state-of-the-union meetings where all community decisions are unanimously decided – and nightly bonfire rituals where we all danced and chanted around the fire. It was a wild adventure and leap of faith that ultimately worked. We were able to forge a relationship and gain access to film on their new Missouri property.
What were the most shocking things you discovered during your time there?
Everything about the Garden’s way of life is shocking to anyone who is used to the creature comforts of society. From how they self govern to where they go to the bathroom, everything they do is the complete opposite of how things are done here in society. For me personally, the fact that their diet consisted of dumpster waste and roadkill was truly shocking. But what also shocked me was realizing the amount of food that is wasted in the United States. We went into the project purely to document different newcomers as they attempted to live the Garden’s lifestyle, but the story evolved the longer we stayed. Different visions for the community emerged and the cult allegations were reignited. It was pretty shocking to see how the group changed from the day they first got to the land to the last day of production.
The experience sounds brutal – how did it affect those involved?
The experience wasn’t easy to say the least. We were exposed to all the same elements as the Garden members – wind, rain, cold and heat. For instance, when the Garden burned the land, we had to put our cameras down to frantically help prevent a forest fire. Our team was all carefully selected for their willingness to work in the wilderness, but at times they were pushed to their limit. One of our crew members had to be admitted to the hospital after coming down with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick bite. Dealing with the elements was one thing, but managing the various people that came to the land was a whole other thing. Because the Garden had an open door policy, we also had to be hyper conscious of our safety. At one point a convicted felon came to the land and threatened both the community and the production team. This person was escorted out by the community, but we strongly considered shutting down production. Even though production was extremely difficult and unconventional, everyone on the team left knowing that we captured a really compelling story. So it was worth it!
