Fertilizer in large quantities is a controlled substance in many places. I don’t know about the US in general or OK in particular, but I’m pretty sure anyone buying large quantities of fertilizer for no apparent reasons would set off a bunch of alarm bells the year after little Timmy did his thing.
I remember my dad being annoyed at having to file the necessary paperwork to be on the “Obviously needs it, it’s OK”-list when I was a kid. Farmers use a lot of it, and he had a few 500Kg sacks (around 10, maybe?) delivered each spring.
So, I had to look this up, but the Oklahoma City bombing was in '95. In season 1 (I think?) of The X-Files, Agent Mulder is given a shit job for stepping on toes, and he has to double check people purchasing larger quantities of ammonium nitrate. That was filmed in '93.
It’s DEFINITELY controlled now. If my garden goes well this year, I’m probably going to try a much larger plot next year, and I’ll likely need fertilizer for it. And, well, I’m not sure how well that’s going to go.
It will probably be fine. Ammonium nitrate isn’t really needed for a garden, at least not in concentrated blends, unless your soil is fucked. Shitloads of nitrogen just makes plants bigger, which isn’t something you normally want for most vegetables.
It also gets into nearby bodies of water and makes super charged algae that suffocates every living thing in the water.
I don’t really have to worry about that. The closest ‘body of water’ to me is a swamp/bog that’s maybe a mile away. Runoff would have to run very far indeed to get to a body of water, and 99% of the way there would be through spruce and birch forests.
I know that the soil is pretty shallow; ledge is just a few feet down. (On the positive side, if you want to build a rock retaining wall, frost heave will give you lots of free rocks every year!) I haven’t checked soil quality yet. If I need fertilizer, it’s not going to be just ammonium nitrate, it’s also going to be potassium and phosphorus. And I need to work on my compost heap, maybe see about buying chicken or cow manure? (Or raise chickens…?)
But when I say ‘garden’, I mean several acres, not going from a 10x10 to 20x20. I also need to get a greenhouse in, because we have a very short season here otherwise.
Agent Mulder is given a shit job for stepping on toes, and he has to double check people purchasing larger quantities of ammonium nitrate. That was filmed in '93.
and it was one of the best x-files episodes.
“on behalf of international jewish conspiracy, i regret to inform you - we are running out of gas.”