permaculture

[PAULA STILLMAN <PStillman@grpwise.latrobe.edu.au>]

Dear listers:
I'm currently looking for a suitable block of land in a country town in
Victoria where I'd like to live and grow fruit, berries, veges, but this is
turning out more difficult than I thought.   Now that we've had a bit of
rain I think the block I've been considering is probably water-logged all
winter.  It is very flat.    Does anyone know of a quick test which might
give an indication of the drainage capabilities of the site?   Something
along the lines of digging a hole a certain depth then watching whether
(or how long) it takes to fill with water.   There might be some
rule-of-thumb which says if a 10 inch hole (say) fills to 5 inches in so
many minutes then forget it.
I was about to take soil samples for soil testing, but there doesn't seem
much point if the block is badly drained and therefore I presume fruit
trees couldn't thrive no matter what the soil quality is.
Thanks for your consideration of my problem.
Cheers
Paula