River bottom soil?

I was gifted a butt load river bottom soil from a river in Missouri. Can I use this to grow herbs. What would be a good mix to Losen this shit up. My idea so far us to cut it in half with a mix if perlite, ewc, and maybe peat or coir.

What is it?

Clay, sand, silt, decaying matter?

I think so, yeah. Fish emulsion things like that.

Oh...I didn't see the top. It looks like dirt??? Light brown. It holds together and crumbles pretty good.

John Dieselman said:

Oh...I didn't see the top. It looks like dirt??? Light brown. It holds together and crumbles pretty good.

Click to expand...

the river murky or run pretty clear?

John Dieselman said:

I was gifted a butt load river bottom soil from a river in Missouri. Can I use this to grow herbs. What would be a good mix to Losen this shit up. My idea so far us to cut it in half with a mix if perlite, ewc, and maybe peat or coir.

Click to expand...

river silt is an awesome thing to use...
IN a perfect world that is... but i'd be worried about "heavy" materials that may or may not be in there, farm runoffs, pesticides, etc.
if it's clean then use it like clay, you need humus to break it up, and lots of aeration

do the mason jar trick,1 cup of water ,1 cup of your soil and a tsp of calgon soap,shake and mix ,let stand for 24 hours,you will notice 3 dif colors in there,get soil ,clay and sand equal and you off and running,after you equal out all levels then amend to your heart desired,with these 3 alone a plant will grow,coming out the bottoms,gypsum will break that clay up,feed with yucca at every feed will also break it up

Hey Missou.....a nearby state salutes!

River BASIN (valley) soil is some of the most naturally fertile soil there is. During torrential rains topsoil and green matter is rinsed off of fields and is carried along w/ the water the the nearest tributary flooding the banks and distributing all the "stolen" soil/green matter to the river valley. When the flooding recedes it leaves pools of water with river life, the soil, and plant matter making a nicely aerated organic tea that will be absorbed by the soil when the water table drops low enough.
It's awesome stuff and why farmers around here still plant river valleys even though it's a crap shoot whether they'll get flooded or not. (HINT for farmers: It's called a flood plain for a reason! )

River BOTTOM soil probably has a pretty high clay content or it would slowly but continually wash away like the river banks here do. If it weren't wear resistant (clay) the water would keep cutting into the earth and washing it downstream.

I'd do the soil test @OLd shov4evr recommends to find out.
The concerns of @greasemonkeymann are real (fuck you VERY MUCH Monsatan!!!!!!!! [Monsanto]) and bottom soil might have a much higher incidence of glyphosate, which I can attest kills all broadleaf plant varieties (including our favorite) except Monsanto frankenstein GMO's.
In ag country, if the soil isn't from forested land, an organic farm, or dedicated pasture that has been that way for the last 50 years, the chances of pesticide/herbicide residues are pretty good. I used to plant E-W fence rows back when ditch weed thrived, but then I noticed how annual natural stands weren't there anymore and stopped.

If you know an area farmer he might do you a solid and take a sample into the county FSA extension to get it tested (although they won't test for glyphosate!).