THE FARM
2016
First commercial cannabis license in Alaska
The state's first commercial cannabis cultivation license, issued the year Alaska opened the program.
1997
Farming this ground since
USDA Organic certified in 2005. Cover cropping and rotation maintain the glacial silt soil.
MS
Plant ecology, University of Washington
A background in botany and plant ecology informs the breeding work done on the farm.
100%
Grown outdoors under the midnight sun
The only farm in Alaska raising its entire cannabis crop outside, start to finish.
Mike Emers
Mike Emers is the founder and owner of Rosie Creek Farm and has been farming in the Tanana Valley for over 30 years. Mike has received awards and recognitions for his work in sustainable agriculture, including an honorable mention for the national Madden Award for innovations in sustainable agriculture.
He has been invited to speak at the New American Farm Conference in Kansas City, and has received research grants from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program and the Alaska Agricultural Innovation Grant program. Mike has taught the Comparative Farming Systems class at the University of Alaska, served on the Board of Directors of the Alaska Food Security Council, been president of the Tanana Valley Farmers Market, and served on the BOD of the Fairbanks Community Co-op. He is currently on the BOD of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association.
Prior to farming, Mike was a botanist with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Denali National Park. He holds an MS in plant ecology from the University of Washington.
At Rosie Creek Farm, we've perfected the art of crafting resilient cannabis strains, shaped by Alaska's wild beauty and the midnight sun!
Today, Rosie Creek Farms is our 50-acre slice of Alaskan paradise, nestled near the fertile banks of the Tanana River. Each year, we produce around 10,000 cannabis plants, carefully cultivating genetics that thrive in Alaska's challenging climate. Over the years, we've developed hardy, mold-resistant strains uniquely suited to our midnight sun environment. Some of our signature strains include River Trip, Gummibears, Chimney Fire, Cabin Fever, and Highbush Cranberry. Many of these can trace their roots back to Rosebud, the first strain we bred on the farm.
My background in botany and plant ecology, which I studied at the University of Washington, has been a guiding light throughout this journey.It's given me the tools to innovate and adapt, blending science with the art of farming in the unique Alaskan soil to create something truly special.
Latitude 64.8° N
Midnight Sun, By the Hour
"Midnight sungrown" isn't a slogan. On the summer solstice our plants get 21.8 hours of daylight — 7.4 hours more than Los Angeles.
One season, one farm
Seed to Cure
Scroll through a full Rosie Creek season — from June planting to the hemp cone in your hand.
June
Seed in the ground
June
Seed in the ground
Every season starts in the silty loam above the Tanana River. Around 10,000 plants go out into the field and greenhouses, all of them bred here for a short, bright Alaskan summer.
Late June – July
The midnight sun stretch
Twenty-one hours of daylight and no true darkness. Plants stretch toward gentle, low-angle light instead of baking under a high desert sun — the reason our flower grows open and airy.
August
Harvest by hand
Our main harvest lands in the moist weeks of August. Everything comes down by hand, row by row, with the whole crew on the field — no machines anywhere in the process.
Days 1–10
Hung under shade cloth
Plants are gently hung under shade cloth inside our greenhouses, where airflow and filtered light bring moisture down slowly instead of shocking the flower dry.
Weeks 2–6
Humidity-controlled cure
From the greenhouse they move into humidity-controlled rooms for a slow, monitored cure, then into terp-lock bags so the terpenes stay exactly where we grew them.
Processing
Five-step hand grind
No mechanical grinders. Ever. Each bud is sifted to remove shake, then taken through a five-step hand grinding process — the slowest, most stubborn quality control we know.
Finished
Packed in a hemp cone
Hand-ground flower only, never trim, rolled into organic hemp cones. Multi-packs go out in plant-based biodegradable packaging. Seed to cure, all of it on one farm.
Meet the Paws Behind the Farm
Rusty & Coco
Rusty and Coco are the unofficial guardians of Rosie Creek farm. Whether they are shadowing the crew out in the field during the summer or curled up under Mike's desk in the winter, they always add joy, excitement, and adventure to life on the farm. No visitor on the farm gets past the farm gate without hearing their barks of alarm, only to be greeted by wagging tails and begs for belly rubs. They take it upon themselves to patrol the farm, keeping it safe from the occasional squirrel that dares to trespass or moose that noses too close to the farm gate.