I never plant my seeds until late in the winter as I don't want them to come up too early. If you try to grow them inside they get very etiolated I find, at least under my lighting conditions. Just plant the seed in pots on the top of good sterile planting mix and keep them wet (no problem here in Oregon in the winter!!) and you'll have a BUNCH of seedlings. Start rowing them out when they have at least two sets of true leaves.
I have experimented a bit with putting a LITTLE sand on top but I didn't see much difference other than cutting down on the ubiquitous moss here in the Pacific NW. Be sure you keep out any stray weeds. Bittercress is a problem here in Oregon.
Kevin
