Turns out, growing pizza ingredients isn't so easy after all. What happened?

So much for Stanley Tucci.

Back in May, after sitting in on the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County’s Pizza in a Pot workshop, I wrote that I hoped my basil would make the actor, who hosts a show on CNN that explores the foods of Italy, swoon. Spoiler alert: I’m not expecting a mention on the show, a new season of which starts Sunday night.

And for good reason.

The workshop was led by Master Gardeners Vicki Jennejohn and Victoria Barnsbee, and they offered me and my classmates tips on growing pizza ingredients in a black canvas container, which I perched on a small plastic table on my back deck.

While the basil I planted what seems like so long ago did pretty well – providing an extra oomph of seasoning for quite a few breakfasts, lunches and dinners – the Early Girl tomatoes I planted in the same container were hit-and-miss (mostly the latter) and the Lady Bird green peppers never showed for their coming out party.

In other words, no homemade pizza, at least not with anything I'd grown. Blame the hot, dry summer; that’s what I’m doing. Blame karma, as I did say growing your own pizza ingredients was as easy as pie.

The fact that I was able to grow some tomatoes at all – a few more than a handful – was “fantastic,” Jennejohn said.

“Hurrah!” Jennejohn said, explaining that when the temperature gets to be 85 or hotter, tomato plants just shut down and reserve energy and nutrients. And in such a drought year, it is definitely difficult for the production of tomatoes.

Hot and dry – that about sums up the past summer.

“Every growing season with tomatoes there is something different, based on Mother Nature,” Jennejohn said. “Whether it’s a super rainy year, if it’s a super drought year, cool temperatures, if it’s super hot temperatures. There’s always something going on.”

The tomatoes that emerged were juicy and tasty. I had a few tomato-and-cheese sandwiches (some with basil) and others were cut up into salads. But the handful or so I did enjoy ripened several days apart and there really were not enough tomatoes all at once for pizza, alas.

At the time Jennejohn and I spoke a few weeks back, the green peppers should have come in. They hadn’t. What probably happened is the plant just didn’t pollinate, she surmised.

They still haven’t and I’m pulling the plug. They won’t.

As I write this, the Finger Lakes region has been through a night or two of frost. My pizza ingredients, despite the weather, were a colorful addition to our home. Now, sporting dying leaves from twisted stalks, they more resemble ghostly characters that no doubt horror writer Stephen King could fashion into a tale for the season.

I expect to try again, and not just because for my first time out, Jennejohn said I experienced very good success.

I can't end on failure, so peppers be prepared: I will grow you and I will eat you. Tomatoes, for sure, and who knows, maybe onions and some spices in addition to basil will once again grace my back deck.

I've got a pizza to eat, after all.

"Really and truly, when you get to eat something out of the garden, there’s just a level of flavor there that you’re like, ‘Oh my God! What are those red things I’ve been eating in the grocery store,'" Jennejohn said, adding that eating a home-grown tomato that is so full of flavor can be addicting.

"You’re like, Wow! This is what a tomato is supposed to taste like."

New Peacemaker Brewing releases

Peacemaker Brewing Co., along with Rio Tomatlan restaurant, are hosting Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers this Saturday night for the band's return to Canandaigua.

The Arizona-based rockers are favorites of Peacemaker co-owner Todd Reardon, who enjoys naming the beers he brews for their song titles and lyrics.

This Saturday, the brewery is releasing a few new ones, including "Tributary Otis," which is a song by the Refreshments — a precursor to the current band lineup. This comes about from a collaboration with a brewery in Toronto, Canada. Ironically, the Canadian beer makers wanted to name their brewery Peacemaker, also after the band, Reardon said.

"They have since changed their name to Something in the Water Brewing," Reardon said.

Also on tap for Saturday: Peacemaker's first Oktoberfest-style lager, Circus in the Finger Lakes. This, too, is inspired by the band.

"This festbier name is an homage to a music festival Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have been putting on in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, every June for years that they call Circus Mexicus," Reardon said.

Peacemaker also will have other band-influenced and familiar brews such as Fonder & Blonder, Persephone, Buffalo! and NADA.

"The list goes on and on," Reardon said.

Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, along with opening acts DL Marble and Zac Wilkerson, will perform from 5-8:30 p.m. Oct. 8, at Rio Tomatlan, 106 Bemis St., Canandaigua. Tickets ($38.91, fees included) can be accessed at https://www.peacemakerbrewing.com (click on 'Events').

Brews for Builds helps Habitat for Humanity

The Brews for Builds fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity of Ontario County is continuing and, in fact, doing quite well.

Brews for Builds allows passholders the opportunity to visit 15 participating Ontario County breweries for a buy-one, get-one draft beer of choice through May 31, 2023.

Donations from the craft brewery tour passes, which cost $40 each, so far have surpassed $15,000.

More than 350 passes have been sold since June, according to Debbie Garigen, who organized the fundraiser.Participating breweries include Noble Shepherd, Irish Mafia, Other Half, Lake Drum, War Horse, WeBe, ReInvention,Stumbling Monkey, Twin Elder, Farmhouse, Naked Dove, Birdhouse, Crafty Ales, Big aLICe and Naples Brewing.

Thanks to the generous participation of these breweries and the support of purchasers, 100% of the Brews for Builds sales will benefit Habitat directly.

October is barely here, but it's not too early to think about gift ideas for the holidays, hint, hint!

This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Pizza in a Pot experiment produces mixed results