When I planted my peas this spring, I kept in mind the rhyme: True to form, we lost about 75% of the crop to critters. What I failed to properly calculate is that even if each plant produces 10 pods, that's only 100 or so peas--a couple of tablespoons. So far, our entire crop has been less than a cup of shelled peas. Which reminds me of another garden quotation, this one attributed to Thomas Cooper, former editor of Horticulture magazine: A garden is never as good as it will be next year.