Oh yeah, any comments on a quantity to start with as well? I am thinking 8 or 16 oz to get things going....

First may I say welcome to the board.

I guess your decision will be answered by the availability of seeds. That is where to start. Find a source and see if they have any for planting this year.

I would think a pound or so would be a good starting place. You could do your research and determine what sites on your property would be best suited to sang. Then you can plant a little in each of those areas and by next year you should know where to put more.Good luck and let us know how it's going.

I haven't gotten down with the Spring plantin' myself, I do plan on givin' it a shot next season though in a small, area separate from my patch.
I'll be sure to let ya'll know how it goes. In regards to what Dawn had mentioned about critters, I'm not sure it's a seasonal problem, I scared up a bunch of deer and turkey outta my patch the other weekend.
Welcome Nick, I'm not sure how much seed to lay for your first season, guess it depends a lot on whether you have help or not. One thing to keep in mind is to take things slow, I know if you're new to this you probably want to get as much seed in-ground as possible, as quickly as possible, but you have to make sure you take the necessary steps to do it right. Don't bite off more than you can chew. It'd be better to have one small plot of well-prepared ground for your first season to serve as your seed stock, than to scatter 5 pounds of seed improperly. One of the things I did when I first started growing was I purchased three year old rootlets and planted a hundred or some of them my first fall. That way, next Spring your plants will bear seed that you can start to expand your own operation with once they've been stratified and prepared.
Maybe this is all common sense, obvious sh#t, but I had to figure it out on my own.
Anyone seeing plants pokin' around Virginia/West Virginia?
Best of luck this season folks