By THERESA REYNOLDS

By THERESA REYNOLDS

Rappahannock New* Special Writer

Matters of intensity, antagonism and companionship seem to belong to the difficult world of human relationships but they are familiar gardening terms to Richard and Joyce Abell, who grow many kinds of vegetables and fruits at their homestead on the Shade Road near Rock Mills.

Intensity refers not to a passionate approach to gardening but to the cultivation of as many plants as possible in a small area. Antagonism and companionship are terms describing the likes and dislikes of pkints for being near each other and other plants and animals.

Richard Abell has been gardening intensively for many years. The son of a New Hampshire agricultural economist and part-time Extension agent, he grew up on a tiny homestead in New England crammed with as many strawberries, raspberries, plum, apple and cherry trees, and as many chickens, pigs and vegetables as his father could fit in three acres.

“My father always wanted to have a farm,” Richard remembers. “But he could never afford to buy one. He made up for it by spending as much time in the garden as he could.”

As a young man, Richard also dreamed of being a farmer. He majored in horticulture, specializing in fruits and vegetables. But fate interfered with his plans in a very dramatic way when he was stricken with polio in his early twenties.

“Confined to a wheelchair, it would have been impossible to farm in those days,” he said. “Hand controls were simply not available on tractors and other farm machinery. And the dwarf fruit stock used in orchards now was just being developed then.”

Instead, Richard turned to teaching, a profession that occupied him for the next 30 years. He moved to the Washington, D. C., area to escape the harsh New England winters. Wherever he lived, whether in Maryland suburbs or in the midst of the city, he turned small back yards into productive garden spots, learning along thS way how to harvest the