Hi, Feminised seeds tend to be mostly female but not 1005 and they can have a higher chance to become a hermie. Forty is an awful lot of plants to start off with go for a dozen the first time around less heartache that way.
Holland's Hope and Swiss Miss are two that are suppose to be mold resistent, and more cold tolerant then other strains.
Are you planting in pots or directly in dirt? There are now safe snail and slug killers made for vegetable gardens whatever you use you want it to be non toxic.
If you are growing in pots you'll want to be sure it they have good drainage if you can raising your pots a couple of inches off the grown using small pieces of a 4x4 so there is good air circulation with so much rain. And of course the area you plant in needs to drain well and quickly no puddles.
