[TurfSmurf]

there is a big drain at the bottom of our drive and it is regularly overflowing as it gets blocked by silt that has washed off nearby fields, is this silt any good to use as a growing medium? if it is then that would give a good reason to clear it out on a regular basis!

[JayG]

Technically silt is a mineral material half-way in particle size between clay and sand, so it is neither good news nor bad news as a constituent of soil, but certainly not a valuable growing medium on its own.

Adding some to MP compost might help the compost retain its "body" for a bit longer if you can be bothered with that sort of thing and are into recycling!

[mumofstig]

The silt left by the flooding Nile is some of the riches growing soil in the world.
On the otherhand if your nearby farmers fields have a lot of artificial fertilisers and sprays in them, then it may be something you really don't want to use for your veg  

[Springlands]

I would agree with Mum on this - you have no way of knowing what the farmers have been using on their fields - not just fertilizers but they could be using herbicides.

[JayG]

I was guessing that the process of washing it off the land and into the drain would have stripped it of everything bar the basic mineral particles, so it would have been safe to use albeit lacking in nutrients.

'Twas only a guess though; possibly a risk not worth taking, especially as it could vary with the time of year and the farmer's "activities".

[Dreamer@45]

Chuck a few seeds in and see what happens………………then keep us posted on the results.

[prakash_mib]

I would agree with MOS.
silt do get washed and you are left with good mineral when you have forces of water like nile and they produce good delta (gathered from untouched catchement areas). silt is not from a few hundred yards away but they are from 100s of miles away.
but I would never bother with the silt produced by next farm flood drain.