How many peas can a pea picker pick?

I spent two summers picking peas for Del Monte

     Yes, I was a pea picker.
     We worked long hours and were generally done around the Fourth of July.  Del Monte had lots of fields around Rochelle and several crews of pickers, many of them teachers earning extra money.
      There was a science to pea picking.  When we filled our hopper, we put on a yellow light and a dump truck would come and you'd drop your load into the dump truck, which would take the peas to Rochelle where they would be canned.
      The trick was to wait until the truck left the field to fill your hopper.  Sometimes it would be 15 or 20 minutes of downtime while you waited for an empty truck.  Most of the time that happened even if you didn't plan it, but a little planning earned some quick naps.
      I almost flipped a combine near Oregon.  The field had some small hills, and I took the wrong angle.  I felt like I was falling over, but I didn't.  Later the mechanic said he was watching and was surprised I stayed upright.
      I think it was that same field, heading south on River Road down the hill by Lowden Park.  I put the tractor in neutral as we started the descent.....and it was one wild ride!  While they don't go very fast on a road, put one of those babies in free wheel mode and they fly!
      Often times if you had to relieve yourself, it was easier just to stand next to the unit and let fly.  I did that once with lightning in the air, and during my relief a bolt hit somewhere and every hair on my head went straight up!  I don't know if I was any safer in the cab, but that is where I hustled.
     Mechanics were assigned to the crew.  There may be 6  or 9 combines and one mechanic.  Ours was Gerald.  He was from someplace South and chewed tobacco.
     My unit broke down one day and he came flying over to get me going again. After a couple of minutes,  he looked and me and said, "Ah need a sop rek. In the truck."  So I went over to the truck and stood there.  He yelled, "Ya see them sop reks"  I was still baffled.  One of the other drivers yelled out to Gerald, "What do you want?"  Gerald said again, "A damn sop rem!"  The other guy looked at me and said, "Shop rag."  I worked two seasons with Gerald and never understood a word he said.
    The benefit was money.  I had just started teaching and the extra cash helped.  The other benefit was it was three to four weeks of work and I was done,
    Sure, I had to get up early.  We would meet at the shed, climb into a van, and rattle off to a field somewhere.  Usually we started at 6, which meant we were in the van at 5:30.  Many mornings I watched the sun come up over a pea field.
     One field was near a pig farm.  As we passed, you could really smell the farm.  The driver yelled out, "Boys, that's the smell of money."  We worked that field for a few days, and I could actually fall asleep in the van and when we hit the smell I would be wide awake.
     My favorite part of the work day was when I was off by myself, my hopper full, no dump truck in sight, and a couple of cupfuls of freshly picked peas on which to feast.
     There are not many pea fields left in the area.  I think what do remain are Stokely or Green Giant.  It's too bad, really.  Del Monte provided a lot of jobs for a lot of people, I imagine many students went to college on their Del Monte money.