Ready to learn how to make your backyard garden ready for this summer’s growing season? Get started with two of Oregon State University’s popular online gardening classes.

Through April, Oregon State University is offering their Vegetable Gardening course and Intro to Oregon Master Gardener course for free. Typically, these online courses cost $45.

The online courses are 4-6 hours. They can be accessed on demand, which means you can watch when it’s convenient for you.

Here’s more information on each course:

Vegetable Gardening Course

This series of short courses is excerpted from OSU’s Master Gardener online course, allowing you to study specific fundamentals of gardening.

In Vegetable Gardening, you will learn how to select a site, prepare soil and plant vegetables properly as well as gain skills to successfully produce food and identify common insect and disease problems.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

Describe what factors to consider in selecting the best site for a vegetable garden

Prepare the soil, and plant properly, for a successful vegetable garden

Utilize season extenders, crop rotation, watering, fertilization and other techniques for successful food production

Identify common insect and disease problems in vegetable gardens

Intro to Oregon Master Gardner Program

This is the beginning of a 12-course series of classes to become master gardener certified. In the free Intro to Oregon Master Gardener Program, you will be introduced to the Oregon Master Gardener Program and the role Master Gardener volunteers play.

To sign up for the free classes, visit Oregon State University’s website.

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