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CORVALLIS - A 10-week gardening course that transforms good gardeners into gourmet gardeners is now among the growing list of classes available online from the Oregon State University Extension Service.

By placing the course online, Master Gardener program leaders hope to make it possible for more working people and those with families to take the Master Gardener course.

Demographically, Oregonians love to garden, but some people do not have the time or flexibility to attend all-day classes each week for five to 12 weeks.

"About 60 percent of Master Gardeners work full or part-time...which is a change from not long ago, when about 30 percent were employed," said Ann Marie VanDerZanden, a horticulturist who heads the Master Gardener program. "Not only that, but they have additional outside commitments, such as younger children at home. I think we need to be responsive to that, and make the (online) training available so they can do it on their own time."

Those interested in becoming Master Gardeners still must register for the course by obtaining an application from their nearest Extension Service office, filling it in, and returning it. The online program is available in Columbia, Hood River, Wasco, Marion, Polk and Lincoln counties. Additional counties are expected to offer the online option soon.

The cost for the classroom version varies by county, and ranges between $40 and $100. The online version is $150 statewide. Both are offered during the winter session.

Students who take the online version are given a password that gives them access to a web site where they may take the course. However, those who expect the online course to be less demanding than if they attended classes in person are in for a surprise, VanDerZanden said.

"It's not the easy way out," she said. "It takes at least as long if not longer to do it than in a classroom; eight to 10 hours a week instead of seven or eight hours of class time."

An example of the course work for the first study chapter, Basic Botany, is available by logging onto http://osu.orst.edu/extension/mg/botany/.

Offering Master Gardener students the online course option also is a strategy to manage future program growth. The Master Gardener program has been available for more than 25 years, its steady growth slowing only in response to economic downturns.

For example, the number of people who registered for the Douglas County Master Gardener program dropped off sharply after economic indicators took a dive in response to the events of last Sept. 11. "We had about half the people who normally train," VanDerZanden said.

However, interest and participation in the program remain brisk.

To date, 27 of Oregon's 36 counties offer an annual Master Gardener course. Last year, 2,783 Oregonians were enrolled as active members of the group. They donated more than 132,300 hours of volunteer time - which translates to about $2 million worth of free expertise. They donate this expertise to answer gardeners' inquiries about pesticides, fertilizers, gardening techniques, and plant diseases. They made public speaking appearances before local groups.

Master Gardeners also plant and maintain public gardens. They usually volunteer for an endeavor to replace blighted scenery with blooms and greenery.

Each newly graduated Master Gardener finishes the program with a storehouse of personal information about gardening - and a debt to "repay" each hour of instruction with an hour of volunteer time assisting the Master Gardener program.

Typically, the graduates fulfill their obligation, and then continue to share their gardening expertise with whoever requests it. Over the years, the programs, people, and projects that have requested their help has spread and grown.

Neil Bell, an Extension horticulturist who works in Marion and Polk counties, said that 20 to 30 Master Gardeners are helping him research the feasibility of growing the showy California ornamental shrub, "Ceanothus," in Oregon gardens and landscapes.

Aside from being attractive and requiring minimal care, Ceanothus is hardy and drought-tolerant. Master Gardeners have helped Bell plant and monitor 41 varieties of Ceanothus in The Oregon Garden near Silverton. The Oregon Garden is a tourist attraction, a showplace for Oregon's nursery industry, and a center for research to improving nursery stock.

"The only reason I'm able to manage (this research) is Master Gardeners," Bell said. "Without them, I'd have to fold up my tent."

Master Gardeners also assist school children in transforming barren sections of school ground into flourishing plots of greenery through the 4-H Wildlife Stewards Program.

These school gardens, natural areas, and wetlands range from modest to grand, and serve as outdoor nature classrooms in everything from botany to soil science.

Maureen Hosty, an Extension 4-H Youth leader who founded the 4-H Wildlife Stewards program in the greater Portland area more than four years ago, said Master Gardeners have made the nationally acclaimed program possible.

"They have really been instrumental because of their extensive plant knowledge," Hosty said. "They've done a lot of monitoring and follow-up."

Dorothy Raver of Corvallis said she first became a Master Gardener more than 20 years ago in Gold Beach, back when it was customary for Master Gardeners to make "garden calls" to tend ailing plants or solve horticultural dilemmas.

Now a member of the Benton County chapter of Master Gardeners, Raver still puts a priority on personal service. As chair of the demonstration garden project at the Benton County Fairgrounds, she and other Master Gardeners can be found planting and weeding the garden every week in the growing season, during the Wednesday Farmer's Market.

Their work has transformed the demonstration garden plot into a showpiece. It now features trellises for pole beans and six rows of vegetables, as well as jewel-like zinnias, marigolds, phlox, cosmos, Johnny jump-ups, alyssum, and "basically whatever flower anyone wants to plant in there," said Raver, 77.

The program continues to adjust to meet Oregon's changing gardening priorities and conditions.

Now gardeners can learn about organic gardening; gardening with native plants; low-maintenance gardening; gardening for seniors with limited mobility, gardens for those using wheelchairs; gardening with less water; and gardening to feed Oregon's hungry.

More information about the Master Gardener program is available at the group's main website.