At Scorpio Gardens, our mission is to support the cultivation and growth of ecologically and culturally connected spaces in our communities through direct land work, skill-shares, and plant and goods offerings. Our work primarily focuses on the North East San Fernando Valley, yet connected to the rest of SoCal, California, and the larger global ecosystem.
Although this is a business, we are acutely aware of the ongoing violence and injustice inflicted upon us by capitalism, settler colonialism, and white supremacy. Scorpio Gardens, in effect, is our project that we hope will play at least some role in the dismantling of capitalist power and support the emergence of new ways of being. Our sales of plants, goods, and services provide us and our families with financial support, yet we do work to create spaces we or others offer free or reduced prices. Working with individuals, other businesses, governments, schools, and organizations, we hope to build a network of resources where everyone's needs are met at no cost.
Land and resource management is one of the basis of capitalist wealth, alongside stolen labor and violence. Over the last 500 years, colonists have seized nearly all of the land and resources accessible to developers on this planet. Precious and finite beings, like trees, megafauna, and bodies of water have rapidly undergone commodification, contamination, destruction, and extinction. This level of disruption globally has created climatic imbalances that will only become more severe if not addressed immediately. At Scorpio Gardens, we see this as an urgent call to action to mobilize our communities to get back into land management work and reconnect with the elements. While we're starting on a small scale, we aspire to amplify this message and inspire others to engage in this justice work.
Notes from me!
Hi, I'm Ethereal Coraje!!
I currently reside on the unceded ancestral land of the Tataviam, Tongva, and Chumash communities in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles and Ventura County areas. Born and raised here, I built a strong connection to the culture and methods of survival created by my communities despite the many barriers to autonomy, happiness, and justice. Seeing the drive, resilience, and growth of communities based in love and care here has pushed me to continue this type of work in order to ensure future generations are left in a better state.
To that end, Scorpio Gardens is my project and approach to our survival under current and future circumstances imposed by capitalism, white supremacy, colonialism and all other built layers of oppression and violence. My work focuses on ecosystem reconstruction, community survival, and dismantling power.
I build on this work through land management projects where I support community members to rehabilitate local ecosystems in their yards, driveways, patios, parks and neighborhoods. I’m specifically interested in supporting the removal of grass and invasive species and replacing and managing the land with native, medicinal, and edible gardens. Through landscaping, gardening and tending our local ecosystems we are taking direct action in support of wildlife, each other and future generations. While I am starting small, I hope that my work has an amplifying effect, encouraging land work as a normal part of our lives.
To address immediate needs for survival, I work to connect community members with resources that meet food, hygiene, housing, and other needs. To provide direct food access to poor and working-class communities, I am connecting and disseminating funds and resources to community members with those who have additional to offer. This includes working with individuals, land owners, other businesses, governments and organizations to build and expand these sorts of connections in the communities, neighborhoods, and people we work with to build a world where we ensure each other's needs are met at no cost.
To support myself and close loved ones financially, I run a retail nursery, ecology, and cultural store where I offer a variety of plants, educational material and lifestyle goods. I vend at the San Fernando Swap Meet, Pop-Ups an Events throughout California, as well as at ScorpioGardens.com for Shipping and Local Pick-Up. I also offer paid Landscaping, Design, Consultation, Land Management, Workshops, and Skill-Shares for native, medicinal, fruiting, vegetable, cacti, succulent, and waterwise ecosystems.
There is a lot of work to be done tearing down capitalism, white supremacy and the many other violent structures in place currently harming us, our families, ecosystem and future generation on Earth. I think this is a position and role I fit well in and hope to build and tear down with loved ones.
Scorpio Gardens Owner
Ethereal Coraje Quintero
he/him/his/they/them/theirs
B.S. Society and the Environment, University of California, Berkeley
Hi, I’m Ethereal Coraje, the owner of Scorpio Gardens. I was born and raised in the North East San Fernando Valley with a strong connection to my family in Hidalgo, Mexico. I’m a growing and learning plant parent, herbalist, land caretaker, among other projects, passions and desires. I’m currently working as an Environmental Consultant and Builder working with native, medicinal, herbal, edible, and ‘waterwise/drought tolerant’ plants and landscapes.
Previous to taking on Scorpio Gardens full-time, I worked as a Project Manager for stone and tile fabrication and installation projects. On the side I kept connected to land work through my garden and small projects. While studying at the University of California, Berkeley I built and sustain relationships with plants, elements and people that have stayed with me. During undergrad in Society and the Environment, my classes mainly focused on the theoretical and political factors regarding the current circumstances under capitalism. I had to look outside the class room with peers, community members and organizations to get hands-on experience in community organizing, resources distribution, and land management strategies. I feel very confident with the vast skill set I’ve acquired to run this project to the moon!!! <3 So excited to continue to learn, grow and reimagine with you all!
Land and Indigenous History
Engaging with, visiting and occupying this land and environment, I also want to recognize that this land and ecosystem is supported, maintained, and worked on by Indigenous people whose ancestors have been caretakers of the lands for thousands of years prior to colonization, global capitalism, and white supremacy.
The area of land occupied and worked on by Scorpio Gardens is the unceded and ancestral territory of the Tataviam, Tongva, and Chumash communities. I want to honor their cultures, practices, ancestors: living, passed, and future. Some descendants of the Passenga, Achoicominga, and Tujunga villages are currently enrolled as citizens of the Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. Some descendants of the Pakooynga, Pasheeknga, and Achooykomeng villages are enrolled with the Gabrielino-Tongva Indian Tribe / San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians. Knowing the local Indigenous community continues fighting land occupation and sovereignty, it's important to me to uplift their stories and needs to support the return of land, resources, and labor to them.
While these ancestral villages resided in this area, other Native people also gathered from, maintained, lived, visited, practiced culture, and traded on the land within this area. The Chumash villages of Ta’apu, Šimiyi, Huwam, and Kamulus are within the vicinity of the land. Other Tongva villages in the region include Siutcanga, Kaweenga, Muuhonga, Wiqanga, Tochonanga, Tobimobit,and Mawnga. Other local Tataviam Villages include Tobimonga, Mujunga, Vijanga, Siutcanga, and Tochonanga.
To learn more about the ancestral caretakers of the land Scorpio Gardens operates on you can visit:
Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land
This is a growing and developing tool to help identify Ancestral Caretakers of the land we occupy and work with. Here you can look into some of the Native Organizations that represent parts of various Ancestral cultures and villages.