OK, first of all - epic opening garden shot! Second - epic hens, they look like handpainted china!
But it puzzles me you have a hard time with peppers and eggplants in your subtropical climate??? Even here, in cold temperate, they grow outside very well. Ofc in a greenhouse might be better, but I'm not getting one just to plant peppers in it? I wonder what could be the problem you had with those plants in the garden?
Lol we aren't sub tropical here. We are temperate. Summers can be dry and hot.