By Liza Gershman
This summer has been a season of light and abundance, a time when the land seems to glow from within. From the golden haze over vineyard rows to the bustle of the Saturday Farmers’ Market, I’ve been behind the camera capturing the faces, fields and kitchens that tell Healdsburg’s story.
Each photograph feels like a conversation with the land and the people who shape it—farmers with soil still on their fingers, chefs translating seasons onto the plate, neighbors gathering in gardens to share in the richness of food and company that we have here.
It is all incredibly special, and the thread that weaves everything and everyone together here is agriculture and food.
Now I’m in the home stretch of photography for Farm + Market: Healdsburg, with the October print deadline on the horizon and the book set for release in April 2026. I am living a diurnal life (sunrise in farms and fields, and dusk at gardens in homes, before quiet late-evenings writing) and thinking with delight about the stories that so many folks have shared.
Every week adds another layer of richness to the story that will ultimately become Farm + Market: Healdsburg, and it has been a joy and a privilege to witness our community through this lens.
This book is, above all, a love letter to Healdsburg—rooted in its farms, lifted by its markets and carried forward by the people who call it home.
As we turn from summer into fall, one final invitation: We are still collecting recipes that celebrate the flavors of the season. If you have a cherished dish—especially something that speaks of winter evenings, autumn gatherings or the quiet beauty of the fall—we would be honored to include it.
Submissions are due by Saturday, Aug. 30, at healdsburgbook.com/recipe-contest.
