GROUND BREAKING —Colleagues say Eddie Munguia has a big heart and two green thumbs.
Photo by Victor Ene
San Diego City College was not working out for Eddie Munguia. He hated accounting, loathed computer programming.
Then at Southwestern College he hit pay dirt. In the dirt. Dirt that pays.
Today Munguia is the horticulture lab technician for the acclaimed South Bay Botanic Garden on campus. He is one of the region’s greatest green thumbs, skillfully tending a four-acre lot that is the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark and The Secret Garden all tucked into an oft-overlooked chunk of campus behind the automotive center. SWC’s award-winning botanical collection has hundreds of plant species and Munguia nurtures them all with love and science. Accounting and computers are in his past.
“I spent a semester taking computer classes and I realized I was horribly bored being stuck inside all day,” he said.
Munguia discovered his love on a blind date. Flipping through the fall SWC catalogue in 2002, he came across landscaping classes and took “a shot in the dark.”
“A couple months after the semester started I realized I really started to like this,” he said. “I kind of felt that change in me where I was thinking of this as a possible career and I think my instructors at the time picked up on it. I was really interested and really enthusiastic about learning and they gave me the opportunity which turned out to be the opportunity of a lifetime.”
That shot in the dark turned into an 11-year relationship with SWC.
“By December, when I got hired as a student worker, I was hooked,” said Munguia. “I absolutely loved it. I never really realized just how much I’d enjoy working with plants, being outdoors.”
By 2007 he earned an associate’s degree in landscape occupations. He served as interim head horticulture lab tech and took over in March 2008. Bill Homyak, program coordinator of Landscape and Nursery Technologies, was on the committee that hired Munguia.
“We needed someone who was self-motivated and hard working,” said Homyak. “We knew he had that watching him as a student worker. We couldn’t survive without him.”
Munguia set out to make a positive impact on the garden. He monitored all 12 irrigation clocks and studied watering patterns. After two years of experimenting, he was able to cut water use by a third.
“That’s probably one of the things I’m most proud of,” he said. “That’s not something I would have attempted if I hadn’t had the experience of working here and familiarity with the site. I still continue to tinker with it.”
Student workers help Munguia maintain the garden year round. His breaks are taken only on federal holidays when campus is closed. Summers are another story.
“The summers are long and hot,” he said. “I do have some volunteers here and there, but as far as regular paid help, I’m pretty much on my own for the summer. It’s not really conducive for me to take summer breaks.”
Botanical Garden personnel offer free tours of the garden and workshops to educate the public on gardening. Tips on drip irrigation, drought tolerant plants, native plants and other regional gardening wisdom are shared at no cost.
One of the Botanical Centers recent accomplishments was creating a garden at Tiffany Elementary School. Tiffany Garden Coordinator Julie Adam met Munguia while perusing the botanic garden one day.
“He just kind of stepped up and said ‘We’d love to help,’” said Adam. “He’s been invaluable. He always answers every email or call within minutes. He’s awesome.”
During an open house for the garden, Munguia had another experience he said made him proud.
“One of the girls who planted some of the native plants, she went over there with her family and they all stood around the plant and took pictures,” he said.
A popular club has blossomed at Tiffany. Two days a week during lunch, children taste the food they grew or share an aspect of gardening.
“A lot of these kids have never had a fresh carrot right out of the ground,” said Munguia. “To be able to expose them to that and get them interested is what it’s all about.”
Tiffany teachers have used it as a tool to practice art, writing and science, said Adam.
Munguia said he wishes more people would avail themselves to SWC’s Secret Garden.
“That’s kind of always been our struggle, getting people to realize we are here,” he said
Munguia insists he and his team know what works best when gardening in this region.
“A lot of people don’t realize we can grow cherries here and they’re delicious,” he said. “We can grow blueberries here. We can grow these things, but people don’t know it.”
Munguia said he hopes to become an ornamental horticulture technician in May. The test will certify him as an expert in the science, technology and business involved in plant care for human use.
He said he plans to stay with his garden for a lifetime.
“I would absolutely love to be here until I retire,” he said. “Very rarely does it feel like work because I love what I do.
