Rain barrel and spring gardening

So, the little bit of gardening that I did last year reminded me of how much I love it and how badly I was missing it.  With that said, to benefit my mental and spiritual health (not to mention that it's great exercise!), I have decided to invest in gardening this year.

I should say that I really don't know how to do anything half way, so I am transforming the little yard around my duplex and making it a lush. crop yielding oasis.  I took lots of pictures today after I was pretty sure I'd finished for the evening, so that there can be some measure of what all I have done.

The first thing I am going to post is about the rain barrel.  Since my water is included in my rent, the last thing I needed was for the landlord to start complaining about me running up the water bill, even though I am improving his property value. So, I have created a rain barrel.  I'm just going to give you all a link to the article I used to make mine.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2gdNar_rMtAMjQxNzUxYmItYjU1ZC00YzYzLTgwNjMtZjg1ODA2MjYxMzdk/edit

I bought a cheap plastic garbage can with a lid from Lowe's along with the other supplies.

I have less that $20 in it all told, and I am sitting it on some upside down Pepsi crates so that it is above ground level (water can't run uphill).  I've uploaded some pics of it via the blogger app on my phone, so you guys can see them.