farming season starts today

I finally got my seeds today, after many weeks of anxious waiting. The delay was caused by an unusually high volume of folks looking for planting supplies, surely a good sign. The only problem is, now I'm not sure how I'm supposed to go about starting seeds! I've got my heating pad, my lights, and my soil-less medium, but what kind of containers should I use? Should I plan to transplant the seedlings to pots, or should I start them in something big enough to hold them until they go outside? How many seeds should I start? What kinds need to go first? Where will I ever put all the plants, should any of them germinate successfully, in the little garden? What a stressful hobby this is!