Hello,

I'm going into the third year with my vegetable garden here in Ithaca, NY,
and I've got a serious issue I need to deal with -- one corner of the garden
floods.

I started the first year with a plot about 9 feet wide and 18 feet long, and
everything went swimmingly. Roto-tilled in peat moss and compost. The next
year I extended the plot by about 5 feet (now 14x18), roto-tilled in peat
moss and compost. There is a slope to the plot, but it didn't affect the
lower end of the original plot. Unfortunately, the new corner floods -- I
can get an inch or two of standing water there in the slightly lower pathway
(I raised the bed around it). Damned if I didn't plant my favorite heirloom
tomatoes in that very corner. Still managed to get a small yield. Spent a
lot of last year's rainy summer bailing it out.

This year I want to fix things. I'm planning to redistribute the soil around
the garden a little to build up that end, but there's not that much soil I
want to move. I'm thinking of other ideas -- but need the solution to be
cheap, or free. Here's what I know I have at my disposal:

*My own compost, although there isn't much, or enough, of it
*I have heard there is a huge pile of rotting horse manure on one of the
Cornell equestrian lots that people available for public taking
*Compost is available from the City of Ithaca, what I think is a pile of the
brush they clear each year and let decompose. It is also free.

My question is, what is the best way to improve drainage and build up that
end of the garden that won't damage the soil by being too rich? If, say, I
get compost from the City, should I mix it with peat moss and the existing
soil as far down as I can dig? Or is there another way to raise the soil
height and improve drainage that I'm not thinking of?

I am not at all interested in a water garden, swamp garden, or backyard bog!

Any advice or thoughts are greatly appreciated!

Chris