I planted a plot in the fall for the first time. I noticed that whenever we had heavy rain, the middle of the plot held alot of water. I guess what I'm saying is that it didn't drain well. I want to do a summer plot in the same location, so should I get some bags of soil and pour it in these low spots? Will this effect my ph level? Any suggestions?

Can you get or do you have access to a tractor with a belly scrape, bucket or box blade? If so just level it out. If not make a drag out of a pallet and pile it up with something heavy like cynder blocks. Secure them to the pallet in some fashion. Tie down straps work pretty well. Pull it over the freshly tilled soil with an atv and it should level out fine. If you have clay soil or clay under the topsoil you may want to put sand on it till, then level. Also you may want to throw some root crops in your seed to further help if there is clay. They will grow and displace it then rot leaving voids to promote better drainage and leave behind some good organic matter. To go cheap you could use purple top turnips or a sugar beet.

Blessings

Unless it is a very, very small area, bags of soil would not be a practical option. On one acre, it takes over five tons of soil to raise it one tenth of an inch.

Levelling might be an option if doing so would allow it to drain else where. If not, you have two options. You can build a diversion to divert water elsewhere if the majority of that water is running onto the plot from off-site. Or you can install some kind of drainage system, whether it be a ditch that you build and grass over, a pipe system, or so on.

Thanks for the info.