Our Gear

Tools, cameras, and contraptions, this is what we’re working with.

Compost Trommel

This contraption is meant to aid in the separation of finished compost material from unfinished, with little effort. Rolling on 4 Harbor Freight fixed castors are 2 - 20” trash picked bicycle rims. The rims are connected with 1x2” furring strips, screwed in place using the old spoke holes. The exoskeleton is lined with an expanded aluminum mesh, the perfect size to pass fine broken down bits of beautiful compost.

This screening trommel rolls with fair ease on the casters which are mounted to a 2x4” frame. The whole shooting match was custom made to rest atop our durable True Value wheelbarrow. Secured with a bungy cord, the open center of the frame allows the perfect tilth material to accumulate in the barrow for easy transport to its garden destination. The unfinished material can pile on the ground at the back end, or it can be caught in a tub of sorts to be thrown and spread back onto the compost heap to finish decomposing.

While we are beginning to dabble in different setups, our main composting technique remains an open air pile or “heap”. We find that it makes a great place to toss every piece of yard waste, food scrap, old soil or any other random compostable organic material we happen to come across. Passively using a system like this it would take years to reap the benefits good compost. We speed the process a bit by turning our pile on average twice a year.

Incorporating a screening process allows us to get our composted materials freed up asap. Simultaneously mixing, aerating, acquiring finished product, and allowing the material that needs more time to be devoured by all of our little helpers.

Large scale composting operations often use a large semi-automated trommel screen to turn and separate their materials. This DIY version is very simple, and was inspired by multiple versions that I saw on the YouTubes. I strongly encourage you to design and implement your own version of this. I plan to seek out some of the versions that inspired me, and also point out some of the items that I feel can be improved upon in an upcoming video. Subscribe on YouTube and hit the bell icon to receive notifications so you don’t miss it.

DJI Mavic Mini

For our first drone the DJI Mavic Mini was a great investment. This user friendly quadcopter is great for beginners. Boasting a 2.7K camera, controlled with ease from a dual stick remote that adapts to utilize most common cell phones. All of which is lightweight, and folds with ease for compact storage. I advise grabbing a Fly More Combo, that comes with 3 batteries, a cascade style charger, a nice carrying case, extra rotor blades, and great for the very inexperienced it has rotor guards.

In any of the three speed modes(Cinematic, Position, and Sport) it will sit perfectly still self correcting even with a slight breeze. For the smoothest video capture or when first learning to fly, I recommend Cinematic Mode.

While still in a lower skills category, I have managed to get some decent videos shot. Mainly viewable on our My Traveling Habit YouTube. I have plans to use it more as we grow this site also

Downsides:

The battery is good for about 20 minutes before beginning to try and automatically return to the home point. This may be a common time, not sure. I will have to do some research on that while I begin looking for the next model.

While super steady in a gentle breeze, it gets a bit scary when a good gust comes. In my experience, the rotors can overspeed and you loose control of the copter. This is not the worst thing in a field, on a mountain cliff it could be catastrophic. I always make sure to have a fresh Micro SD in when I fly. This minimizes the risk of losing all your footage if something like that happens.

There is no setting to track and follow you. Least not that i have found. This was a disappointment. Considering the price though, you can have every feature.