Pallet Garden

We live in an apartment, and have a VERY small balcony, but we also have a yard that is  shared with  the downstairs tenants. We can use part of the yard for a garden, but I would like to have as much as I can on the balcony, easily accessible from my kitchen. 

I'm hoping for a much better garden this year than what I had last year. I want to use my space wisely, and have a wide variety of vegetables. I may be sharing space with a friend, which will also help to defray some of the work. This year, I really need to start canning and freezing. I met a woman a few years ago who had a pretty big garden, and rarely had to buy any vegetables at all....I'd like to be as close to that as I can. 

I'd like to have the yard fenced in completely, but it's a rental, so that isn't a likely thing. Ideally, we'd be able to have a nice outdoor living area. However, it wouldn't be nice without a six foot privacy fence. We're in the hood, yo. There's a lot of craziness around here. It's the fence issue that makes me seriously consider moving. I'd love a fence to keep my dogs in and the people out. If I could have some chickens too, that would be awesome. 

I always feel like I'm starting my planning too late. Shouldn't I have already started my seeds inside? Shouldn't I know where everything is going to go? There's lots of work to be done.....