I'm sorry to hear about your mom. I'm busy helping someone with succulent cuttings because she wants to make a garden in honour of her mom, it's great therapy.
Winter isn't great for vegetables here in SA, it's too cold for them to really grow much. So-called winter gardening is actually just about getting seedlings in the ground around April so that you can harvest by June, or nursing them through June and July and getting a small harvest by the end of August. Only spinach, the crucifer family and peas are suitable for winter crops, beans don't make it.
For your water needs in summer, mulching will help a lot but also look into drip irrigation which provides targeted water to your plants.
Even using plastic cooldrink bottles is an option https://www.growveg.co.za/guides/10-clever-hacks-for-reusing-plastic-bottles-in-the-garden/
I would buy 40% shade cloth to use with the gazebo, it's not that expensive for a small amount.
Those are not wasps in your compost, they are black soldier flies and they mimic wasps. They are the best compost makers out there
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Hi Nikv, thanks so much for the message and great info, you are always a wealth of knowledge. Thanks for the tip on the bottles, we've used some inverted bottles in the garden around the fruit trees, but will definitely do more.
The shade cloth will be an absolute must, there is a local supplier here but they seem to only sell 80 and 90%, will look around some more before summer gets here.
Black soldier flies oh wow, that's really interesting. I've read up on them before and they've actually started farming them in parts of SA. I always thought that they were much smaller than these gigantic goggas that like our compost. Good to know and I'm happy to welcome whatever bugs help with the decomposition.
Appreciate your wisdom and help, have a lovely night :)