Steve Bauer

I've done this a bunch of times and have gotten good results. As Terri points out above, you can lay them on their side while you harden them off, which will cause the plant to develop a nice bend in them making it easier to bury their stem just a few inches deep along the surface. In my opinion, the advantage here is gained by increasing the amount of surface feeder roots that the plant creates. When I've simply planted them deeper, I haven't noticed an overall deeper root system when I pull them out in the fall. I think that deeper stem simply dies back.

I've heard of that practice in the context of becoming a permaculture teacher, but then I believe you are expected to help out with the course in some way. My assumption would be that you'd have to negotiate this with individual course organizers though. To your point in the initial question, someone would need to cover the cost of food, lodging and instructor fees.