Now you calcium, now you don’t… OK, that was awful but so’s the sight of these abandoned dairy farms moldering away ’til the cows come home.

The so-called “Scary Dairy” in Camarillo, California was a dairy farm operated under the auspices of the former Camarillo State Mental Hospital. The dairy opened in 1932 and was part of an enlightened (for the time) program that explored alternative treatments for the mentally ill. We’ll refrain from making any “mad cow disease” references.

The dairy was closed in the mid-1960s and the hospital itself shut down in 1997. Five years later, the hospital was renovated and occupied by the new California State University, Channel Islands and in 2009 the university bought the 367-acre parcel of land that included the abandoned dairy farm.

Now known as the CSU Channel Islands University Park, the land is open for public use though the Scary Dairy is fenced off – not that this has stopped graffiti artists from making their marks. Flickr user Thomas Hawk visited the Scary Dairy in June of 2011, taking these and many more spectacular and spooky photos.

Boom To Bust

Here’s the Sinton Office of the Red Canon Dairy in Cañon City, Colorado. Flickr user jimsawthat‘s photo captures the well-worn aura of a business with deep roots going back many decades. The photographer captured the above image on December 26th of 2014.

No Milk Today

Flickr user David Benjamin visited an abandoned dairy farm in early May of 2013, and although he doesn’t give any hints as to where this gently decaying farm is located, that’s just as well: not everything needs embellishment with graffiti.

Southburied

The Southbury Training School in Southbury, Connecticut opened in 1940 and stopped accepting new mentally-challenged “students” in 1986. The facility has operated in a sort of weird limbo since then: in 2001 there were 639 residents (down from 1,111 in 1986). At that time the average age was 55 and the average resident had been at STS for 43 years.

The school’s on-site dairy farm was closed in the late 1990s with the last 101 cows sold off to a local farmer in 2003. Urbex explorer infraredrobert visited STS in March of 2015, where he snapped the photos above and more.

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Spilt Milk 12 Udderly Abandoned Dairies Dairy Farms

Using the sun and the sea, renewable sources of energy and water, a desert farming operation in Australia shows how organic food can be grown in a fresh new and sustainable way.

The soil-free hydroponic systems of Sundrop Farms use solar energy to filter brackish water for use on crops, growing 17,000 metric tons of food annually. The sun’s energy also powers, heats and cools the greenhouses as needed, reflected via a series of 23,000 mirrors. In contrast, a “conventional greenhouse uses groundwater for irrigation, gas for heating, and electricity for cooling.”

The “plants are grown hydroponically, which is the technical way of saying we don’t use soil. Our plants flourish on nutrient-rich coconut husks instead.” Additional climate and irrigation controls allow the farm to maximize outputs with minimized inputs.

The desert location as well as natural control strategies allow Sundrop to accomplish their goals without harmful, expensive or polluting inputs as well. “Unlike traditional agriculture we use no fertilizers and no weed killers. We control plant eating bugs with carnivorous ones, just the way nature intended.”

Sundrop’s success illustrates the possibilities of working in a world where water, land and energy are all scarce and valuable. Moreover, the farm shows that fruits and vegetables can be produced year-round in any conditions thanks to hydroponics and green energy, from rural wastelands to urban food deserts.

“Because we do everything in a controlled environment, we know what our input costs are, and we’re doing everything on a renewable basis, we can provide real consistency of supply and a higher quality product at a better price year ’round,” said Philipp Saumweber, chairman and CEO of Sundrop Farms.

“Existing farming practices are unsustainable,” explains Sundrop. They generally use fossil fuels, excessive groundwater and require appropriate soil and weather conditions. “Yet by 2050 rising populations will see a 50% increase in food demand. Climate change is increasing the number and the severity of catastrophic weather events. And water scarcity is becoming more acute in arid regions. We need to look at alternative ways to create energy and to produce food. That’s no longer a preferred option but a necessity. Fortunately however, things are starting to change.”

The former USSR boasts some of the world’s weirdest and most hauntingly beautiful abandoned structures, from sci-fi monuments to prison camps and military facilities. Many of Russia’s abandoned wonders are byproducts of the Soviet collapse, including remote stretches of countryside that are no longer feasible to live in due to ill-kept or destroyed roads and infrastructure. Some of the structures that can be found there include intricate hand-carved wooden farmhouses and agricultural buildings that seem to hover in midair.

19th Century Farmhouses in Kostroma

These stunning examples of 19th century Russian architectural craftsmanship have sadly fallen into disrepair on the inside, but the exteriors generally look as cool as ever. Some are in better condition than others, looking as if they’re just waiting for their owners to return. Located deep within the forests of Kostroma, the abandoned family homes are likely too far from civilization to support most present-day occupants. Photographer Andrew Qzmn travels through the countryside documenting these forgotten structures, as well as those that are still kept up.

Floating Farm Building, Ukraine

Reportedly located in Ukraine rather than Russia, this farm building might seem like a Photoshop job at first, but a few pictures sent into the blog Curious Places confirm it to be part of a potato sorting facility, with speculation that part of it may have been dismantled since it was actively in use.

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Ghostly Floating Farms Abandoned Rural Buildings Of Russia

Generations of adults cherish childhood memories of these now-abandoned petting zoos. As for the animals fed & petted there, maybe they remember, too…

White Pines Deer Park near Oregon, Illinois is remembered fondly by several generations of kids who enjoyed feeding the 200-odd deer kept in a spacious enclosure. “It’s excellent,” stated 8-year-old T.J. Turner in the summer of 1992. “Deer come right up to you. Outside you never get to pet them or see them.” Inside too, nowadays.

Flickr user BillsExplorations visited what remains of White Pines Deer Park in February of 2013, about two decades after the park closed in the mid-1990’s. Though it adjoins White Pines Forest State Park (an Illinois Nature Preserve since 2001), Bill didn’t see any deer roaming about – blame it on carelessly disposed-of Polaroid film waste.

Gotta Flat

Flickr user Quinn Dombrowski (quinn.anya) brings us this curious “Flat Petting Zoo”… says they sell furs there. Better not tell PETA or Elaine Benes.

Benson’s Hedges

Benson’s Wild Animal Farm in Hudson, New Hampshire, opened in 1926 and closed in 1987 following a decades-long decline. In 2009, the town of Hudson acquired the property and it’s gradually being redeveloped as a public park and nature area sans petting zoo.

Some of the much-deteriorated old buildings including the Old Lady in the Shoe’s house are to be restored though non-native plants, animals and animal-petters are no longer welcome.

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Gone Fur Good 10 Abandoned Petting Zoos Game Parks

The world’s largest indoor farm has already proven just how amazingly successful food production can be outside of standard agricultural setups, and these 10 urban farm designs and concepts take the possibilities even further by taking advantage of disused spaces, reaching high into the sky and employing modular, portable, prefabricated configurations.

Jenga-Like Urban Farming Ecosystem by OVA Studio

The Hive-Inn City Farm is a prefabricated, modular farming structure that could brig fresh, locally grown food to busy urban districts. The structure reclaims shipping containers and stacks them in a Jenga-like configuration, with each container dedicated to a specific function from growing a certain type of food to recycling waste. The design echoes that of OVA Studio’s original Hive Inn concept, which uses the containers as individual hotel rooms.

SPARK Senior Living Center and Vertical Farm Concept

This concept by SPARK Architects solves two problems in one by combining housing for Singapore’s rapidly aging population with urban food production. The ‘home farm’ creates a lush, vibrant garden environment that’s pleasant to live in while also catering specifically to the needs of seniors and using a vertical system to grow edibles, offering part-time employment for residents in the gardens

Mini Harvesting Station for Forgotten City Spaces

On a smaller scale, various spaces around the city that aren’t being put to good use could serve as temporary locations for miniature farms. The Harvesting Station by Conceptual Devices can grow up to 200 plants within 43 square feet, and is topped with a water harvesting tower that irrigates the plants automatically.

Vertical SkyFarm for Korea

Downtown Seoul, South Korea could become a powerhouse food production center if concepts like Aprilli’s vertical farm are actually built, potentially sustaining a significant number of the city’s large population. The tree-shaped structure frees up space on the ground while raising ‘leaf’ platforms far above street level for access to sunlight, and serves as an iconic symbol of sustainability.

Geodesic Rooftop Greenhosue for Urban Farmers

Another small-scale rooftop ming solution is the Globe (Hedron) by Conceptual Devices, a geodesic dome for flat urban rooftops that’s framed with bamboo and functions as an aquaponic system to produce both fish and vegetables. Each greenhouse can feed four families of four year-round.

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Sustainable Food In The City 10 Smart Urban Farm Designs