We spent four days at “The Ranch” as Workaway volunteers in 2023 before realizing the true nature of the ranch and quickly fleeing. We were not indoctrinated, we were not members, and we are relatively unscathed. But we are the lucky ones. It’s now our mission to prevent any other unsuspecting farmstay-seeking volunteers from stumbling into RJ’s orbit. This is our brief story.
At the “Ranch,” they post on farm & travel work sites to get people to come and work for food and lodging. They recruit members through these programs. Thankfully when Workaway was informed Madrone Ranch and Gardens was removed.
We’re in our 20s, live on the east coast, and decided to embark upon a year of Workaway farm stays, starting on the west coast. After much research, we landed on a Workaway host profile displaying a self-sustaining, not-for-profit ranch that highlighted their greenhouse, gardens, chickens, pigs, and more appealing horticulture and agriculture terms. They had about 14 reviews, all glowing. We scheduled a Zoom call via the Workaway messaging app to suss out their vibes because the first thing everyone says when you do something like Workaway for the first time is, “Make sure it’s not a freaky cult!” It was our first time ever doing something even remotely like this, so we wanted to be really careful. One of our relatives is a Workaway expert, and we had them look over the ranch profile too. They agreed that it looked incredible, no red flags to be found.
Rachel Slater, RJ Testerman, Susan Tarantino, Wendy Testerman, (seated) Francoise Devresse, and Sheri Testerman.
The Zoom call went well and gave no noticeable tipoffs toward anything substantially weird. We spoke with two women, Rachael and Wendy. We noticed neither name matched the name we saw on the Workaway chat, which was Daisy, and Rachael said she hadn’t gotten around to changing it since Daisy “left the ranch.” The Zoom call was 30 minutes (and then timed out) and consisted mostly of the two women asking us questions about why we were coming, what we were seeking to gain/learn from the experience, how long we’ve been dating, if we’ve ever lived together before, and our medical/health backgrounds, including any medication. This struck us as odd, but we figured they had their reasons. Rachael did almost all of the talking. She deeply interrogated Arden about why they take an antidepressant, what dosage they take, what happens if they don’t take it, etc, which rubbed us the wrong way, but didn’t scream red flag. We figured they were just older country folk who hadn’t heard of mental health medication before and wanted to understand it. We also informed them we’d be driving all the way from New York to their farm in Klamath River, California, over the course of a week, and they were very supportive of this long journey and were excited for us.
We finally arrived at Klamath River at 7pm after a week of driving. Rachael had given us lots of detailed instructions on how to get there once service dropped out north of Yreka (there’s no service for 45 minutes outside of the ranch) and was extremely helpful in the days leading up to our arrival. She checked in multiple times throughout
the week and always quickly answered any questions we had. We parked our car and immediately a bunch of people walked over to us to say hello. We quickly learned that we were the first volunteers of the season, but more would be coming in about a week. They told us they’ve been hosting volunteers since 2014 and have had about 100 volunteers total since then.
For reference; I should have included Madrone Ranch and Gardens in this diagram. RJ and his “family” use Madrone Ranch and Gardens to recruit free labor. More than one visitor has been sucked into the cult while working for room and board.
It was required for us to wear masks indoors for our first five days to prevent the spread of Covid or any other sickness, so we put on our masks before saying hello to everyone approaching us. Some people hugged us, and some didn’t. We were told all 12 peoples’ names (and immediately forgot them), then we were shown a cabin that we could sleep in, and Rachael helped us bring our bags inside the cabin. The cabin was tiny but gorgeous and immaculate, with a million pillows, a sofa, a ton of blankets, fresh-cut daffodils in a vase, lamps, chocolates, and diffuser rods that made it smell fresh and clean. The bedding was notably super duper soft.
A few minutes later, we went inside their lodge for dinner. We were struck by its beauty and craftsmanship – the whole place really screamed Big Money. These people are RICH rich if they have a house like this out in the boonies. It was impeccably clean, had modern, fancy furniture, entirely matching dish and cup sets with no chips or scratches, custom cabinetry, and was maintained the way a five-star resort lodge would be. There were organic Whole Foods groceries, multiple stocked fridges, tables with produce bounties, a tea shelf, an automated Zojurushi rice cooker and kettle, two coffee makers, and many more lavish amenities. We came to learn that the kitchen was maintained with militant procedures to keep up with this standard.
Lasagna with noodles made from scratch and house-raised pork was served with salad for dinner, and we were handed a gorgeous golden tray of food, silverware, and napkins to eat outside (because we were masked). Once we were done, we went back inside and were told to sit at the table. And then – silence.
No one talked, no one asked us a question. We sat there, masked, silent, confused, all blinking at each other. It would have been funny if it weren’t so uncomfortable. Finally, Jordan broke the silence. “So, where is everyone from?” There were some sounds and chuckles of discomfort from the 12 adults, and eventually, everyone went around and said where they were from.
“I’m from D.C.”
“I’m from California.”
“I’m from New Jersey.”
“I’m from New York.”
It was stiff and awkward. Eventually, the conversation shifted to what people would be doing the next day. But really, it was just Becca and Cedrick who had anything farm-related to do. 
After table talk, we stuck around and tried to make conversation with people by asking questions. “When did you all move in here? / How long have you known each other? / What kind of work do you do out on the field? / How did you guys meet? / What do you like to do for fun? / What hours do you usually work?”
All questions we asked were met with vague, generalized, mysterious answers or shut down altogether.
Fun is the stated goal of the group and is considered the highest goal. RJ Testerman declares what is fun and not fun. Not being Fun is used to bully women and to justify bad treatment and abuse.
“Ah, some people moved in 5 years ago, some people 20 years ago. Some of us have been living together for 40 years. / Eh, we all met at different times. But we’re a family. / We do all sorts of different work; it really depends. / We met in a lot of different ways; we all want to live pleasurably and have fun. / We like to have fun. / We don’t clock in or clock out, and we just move in cycles. We’re all about fun here; everything is fun.”
We picked up that these folks do not like being asked questions. It was frustrating to try to make normal conversation. But this was our first Workaway, our first farm, our first stop on our life’s new adventure. We felt unnerved, unsettled, and confused. We wanted to get our bearings and figure out what was going on. It felt like pulling teeth to get any information from anybody, but no one was ever mean or rude. So we shrugged it off and stayed open-minded to different peoples’ ways.
Becca walked with Jordan around the living room, pointing out different art. Jordan noticed a drawing of two young boys and asked, “Whose kids are those?” Becca responded, “Our sons who are older now.” A moment later, Jordan thought maybe they’d misheard her and asked, “Wait, whose kids are those again?” And Becca gestured broadly toward the room and repeated, “Our kids.” We didn’t really know what to make of that.
Later in the night, we noticed Meghan and Steven making out in front of the door to downstairs – presumably a kiss goodnight? It wasn’t particularly strange, but we noted the mismatch in demeanor. They were clearly quite intimate but spoke to each other like coworkers. We noted over the next two days that nearly every woman kissed nearly every man at some point or another (but never two women or two men).
Back in our cabin called The Love Shack (or the Shaque), we debriefed. We both felt like the way everyone spoke – the cadence, the pauses, the inflections, the rhythm – was notably very odd. The eye contact and smiles felt very “uncanny valley,” sort of cold and distant, yet somehow friendly. We chalked it all up to the fact that most of them were between ages 50-68, and it could just be a generational thing.
The next morning, nearly every single person asked how we slept and if we were warm enough. We noted the extreme friendliness; however there was never any laughter amongst them, or banter, or sense of being at ease, or being amongst loved ones who you’ve known for decades. Everyone spoke to each other as if they were coworkers, forever stuck in careful small talk. It became clear, even though it was unspoken, that we were not allowed downstairs nor in any other room besides the big main room with the kitchen/dining table/sofas. We noticed people often shot each other knowing glances and bopped off to other rooms, presumably to have a conversation. Every word we heard screamed “we’re hiding secrets” in the subtext. We figured maybe they were just private people for their own reasons, and we should respect that.
We ate breakfast outside and then had an “orientation.” Yvonne sat next to Rachael as she took notes and read to us from a piece of paper. We were never told what she was taking notes on, and we never got to look at the piece of paper ourselves.
“We love to communicate a lot here. Living communally really relies on that. Don’t post any photos you take on social media without asking us first. Things get taken out of context sometimes. We are not liable for any injuries. Do not go on walks by yourself. Give us a few days’ notice before you want to take a day off. Our focus is that we live pleasurably and have fun. Never do anything that you don’t want to do. Let us know what tasks you prefer to do.” And lastly, as if she had forgotten, or perhaps was gathering the courage to say it, “In this family, we have alternative relationships. It’s not just man, woman, in a box. We all love each other and express it in different ways. And we’re affectionate. You’re going to see that. We will never do it to you, though. Are you okay with that?”
We answered yes, and we figured they were all just queer and polyamorous or something. No biggie. Shortly after, Rachael added us to a group chat on Skype where people could communicate little things. Arden noticed that this showed peoples’ last names, something we couldn’t find anywhere prior.
The greenhouse
That night, we googled some of the first + last names and quickly came across the Truth About RJ blog. The next three hours were spent on the blog, on the members’ personal Instagrams and Linkedins, their tagged photos, their friends’ Instagrams, the Let’s Talk About Sects podcast, articles about OneTaste and how Welcomed Consensus was its predecessor, and other sites, unearthing all the horrors of this cult-like a slow montage scene in a psychological thriller movie. It felt unreal that we could actually be in the midst of a decades-old sex cult that has committed horrific crimes, stripped people of decades of their lives, brainwashed, trafficked, groomed, abused, violated – and recruited. We then understood that Workaway and WWOOF (and possibly other similar platforms) were being used as means of recruitment, not to mention free labor to benefit RJ and his “vision.”
Rebecca “Becca” Fancy
The following day, we mustered our best acting skills to make sure nobody knew that we had discovered the massive skeleton in their closet. We went about our tasks as normal. We kept spotting other peculiarities that aligned with what we had read that may have slipped under the radar if we were not privy to the true nature of their “family.” We mostly spent the day with Becca in the greenhouse transplanting tomatoes, and RJ stopped by at one point to take some of her plants. The conversation was odd as if they were aliens pretending to be humans. He complimented Jordan’s forearms. He stared at Arden’s chest. It was all very weird, especially because we knew everything behind the weirdness.
Jordan working at the greenhouse
Later on, during lunch prep, nearly everyone was around, and then RJ walked in. We noticed how the vibes completely changed as soon as RJ was there. Everyone smiled bigger, laughed harder (even though he wasn’t funny at all), and all the women kissed him to greet him. People catered to him, flocked to him, and wanted his attention without making it too obvious. We noted that Susan and Rachael were dressed the same, decked out in nice white long-sleeve shirts, light gray tight pants, fur vests, and small purses. (Why would you need a purse on you at the ranch?) Notably, RJ was a total misogynistic dick, to be honest. He didn’t say one kind, earnest, funny, or intelligent thing. But he had everyone in that room under his power, without a doubt.
During lunch, we talked quietly about how we would leave. We decided that the next morning, we’d say we had a family emergency and had to immediately drive back east. We didn’t feel we were in imminent danger, but we needed to get out as soon as possible without making it obvious that we knew about the Welcomed Consensus. After reading what we read, we had no idea what they were capable of – would they trap us? Would they harm us? Nearly everything they had said to us thus far had been a lie. We didn’t want to make any assumptions or make any waves. We wanted to make a clean, easy, unremarkable escape. We heard that RJ and some others were traveling to “the San Francisco house” the next morning around 11 am, so we decided we would get the “family emergency phone call” right after they left to avoid having to face RJ again.
The next day, we had a successful departure. Everyone who was at the ranch came out to hug us and tell us how sad they were that we were leaving, so we were super glad we had waited for RJ to leave. The dynamics were awkward as ever, and we fumbled around in front of the semi-circle of adults staring at us, trying to figure out how to just get in the car and leave. We finally hit the road, drove straight to Yreka, where there’s cell service, and then called our families. We figured out a friend’s house we could crash at while we looked for a new Workaway farm.
The biggest danger of this recruitment style is that their kindness, generosity, and general respect could easily mask their other quirks and questionable tendencies. Plus, the comfort of the lavish, delicious, cozy lifestyle could lull you into not questioning anything else. If not for our burning curiosity, the decision to Google, and intense recommendation from family members not to stay anywhere in which we weren’t 100% socially comfortable, we would have stayed a lot longer. Even knowing what we knew, we felt bad as we drove away because everyone’s goodbyes seemed so heartfelt and earnest. The craziest part: we’re both obsessed with cults. Arden had been listening to cult podcasts, reading about cults, and looking into the psychology of cults and domestic abuse for about eight years. Even with all this knowledge, if not for that curiosity-fueled Google search, we might still be there now. No one is immune to their kind and subtle recruitment style. This could happen to anyone, and our goal is to spread awareness of these understated red flags.
To preserve our anonymity, we’ll be using the names Jordan and Arden instead of our real names. We’re very open to talk to anyone about our experience, but we have some fear about the consequences of attaching our names/faces to this article. Please contact Christine if you would like to get in touch.
WWOOF hasn’t taken down Madrone Ranch and Gardens, or the non-name they post under. They are aware of the blog posts and podcasts describing the deceptiveness of the encounters.
You can find all the short video clips Jordan and Arden took here.
