FARMER JOHN TILLS SIMI SOIL; CORNER CROPS THRIVE.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

At a busy crossroads on the east side of town, bulldozers are breaking ground for a new police station and a shopping plaza does brisk business from the adjoining residential area.

But the corn also rises at the corner of Tapo Canyon Road and Alamo Street.

John Forneris has farmed the 40 acres on the northeast corner of this intersection for six years. He sows, harvests and then sells his crop directly to the public.

That's the way his grandfather did it. That's that way his own father did it. It's the only way he'll ever do it.

``For my grandfather and father, the happiest moments of the work year were the hours they spent around the fruit stands,'' he said. ``It's always been our goal to sell the produce to people who are going to eat it. We really enjoy meeting people.''

But the people won't come if the crop isn't tasty, bountiful and easy to get to. Forneris, 49, said the Tapo Canyon-Alamo site is excellent because the acreage is ample and the crossroads is busy.

``We're fortunate here. There aren't many sites like this. They're almost nonexistent. You have to have exposure, but you also have to have the acreage,'' he said, adding that he leases the land from the Simi Valley Unified School District.

Forneris, whose family has operated produce stands in the Mission Hills area of the San Fernando Valley for 31 years, began selling corn on Father's Day. He'll be able to sell fresh ears from now until Halloween because he staggered his plantings so that he could harvest about every seven days.

The same is true for the rest of his crop, which includes cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, beans and various melons.

``We stagger the plantings so we can keep the crop as young and tender as possible,'' he said.

Much of his crop is now available seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fresh produce is picked each day, starting at 6 a.m.

But those customers with a taste for cantaloupe and honeydew will have to wait until next week. In the autumn, pumpkins and winter squash will be harvested.

Farmer John's Fresh Produce stand opens in mid-March and closes 150 days later, in the first week of November. Last week Forneris and his field crew of four finished a 90-day harvest of strawberries.

Madeleine Freeman, who lives nearby in the Vista Monte neighborhood, said Wednesday she was disappointed when the strawberry crop ended. But she left the stand with bags of yellow and white corn.

``My husband likes the yellow, I like the white,'' she said.

Freeman frequents the farm stand because it is convenient and the produce is always good.

Also, her husband purchased some tomato plants from Forneris for their home garden and the results have been ``wonderful,'' she said.

Barbara Wright, a Chatsworth accountant who began working part-time at the stand this year, said it is ``very rewarding serving the public something fresh and wholesome.''

That direct connection is why Forneris has no interest in selling to wholesalers.

``It gives me great pleasure to get direct feedback from the people,'' he said.

He also keeps goats and sheep in pens on the premises for those children who are unfamiliar with farm life.

``Some children growing up in this area have never been exposed to livestock,'' he said.

Forneris said the public has been very supportive, here and in the San Fernando Valley.

But Forneris and his family began farming in Simi Valley as development in the San Fernando Valley began to gobble up farm land.

And though he said he hopes to finish his days as a farmer serving Simi Valley, he is looking west to Moorpark and Oxnard and Camarillo for viable farm stand locations.

``I hope we can stay here another 31 years. But I'll probably finish off my work days in one of those communities,'' he said.

Customers like Freeman say they would hate to lose the farm stand.

``At the end of the season I'm always sorry to see that sign they put up - `Sorry. Closed. See you next year,' '' she said.

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--color in SIMI edition only) John Forneris grows and sells fresh produce on a busy intersection in Simi Valley.

(2--ran in SIMI and CONEJO editions only--color in SIMI only) Corn, onions and tomatoes grow on John Forneris' suburban Simi Valley farm.

(3--ran in SIMI only--color) Standing proudly among his onions, John Forneris smiles at his harvest bounty.

David Sprague/Daily News