L AST WEEK I ordered my tomato seed. Three weeks from today I hope to be watching spring training baseball on TV.

No, it is not time to pull on the tank tops yet, but spring is almost here. The Moon of the Polecat is upon us and the lovesick skunks are on the move.

Why, there are even some weeds in my yard that have already started growing.

As I predicted last September, it has been a wimp of a winter with less than 4 inches of snow in my neighborhood.

The last week in January and the first week in February were pretty cold but that has been about it. Hey! A two-week winter isn't bad--unless you're a snow lover.

Snow has been in short supply all over. Places like Elkins, W.Va., and Frostburg, Md., that are famous for snow haven't seen much of it this winter. Even Chicago hasn't seen much of the white stuff.

But that's nothing unusual. Some winters are hard and others don't amount to much. It has been that way since I can remember.

We could have used some snow to put moisture in the ground. Much of December and early January were on the dry side and this is the time of year when plants are dormant and water can work its way through the soil to underground reservoirs.

We did end up with about 5 inches of rain for the month of January but much of that ran off, especially during that Jan. 30 gully washer.

February has thus far been pretty dry and that could play into the groundwater availability next summer.

Remember, once plants start growing, trees and grass and weeds slurp up a lot of the rain that falls. If you don't believe me just weigh the leaves on a big oak tree. There is a lot of water in those leaves.

As I said, I've already ordered my tomato seeds and I'm looking ahead to spring. By this time next week, pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Florida and Arizona and Major League Baseball's spring training camps will be getting started.

Once spring training gets under way, I start thinking about planting my early garden. There have been quite a few years when I have had potatoes, peas, kale, beets and onions in the ground before March 1.