Every year, at the end of our bedding plant season, it’s steam time. We grow our stock plants on pumice, a volcanic rock from old riverbeds linked to a volcano 40 km away from us. Before we start planting again, this medium needs to be fully disinfected by steam cleaning. That keeps us busy for a good ten weeks, from sunrise to sunset.
And wouldn’t you know it: just like four years ago, oil prices on the global market skyrocketed just as we were about to start steaming. So far, though, the damage has been moderate: we steam using diesel, and fuel prices are adjusted only once a month in Kenya. The latest price increase had just been introduced before the invasion.
I read in the Dutch news about fuel shortages and long queues at petrol stations in Kenya. In reality, though, everything was simply available: no queues and no one stockpiling. We, however, did start stockpiling quickly, because it was only a matter of time before prices would rise. So, we arranged extra storage and, at one point, we had 30,000 litres in stock.
