Strawberry the Cow: The Story of Miracle Milk Straight from the Udder

Strawberry the Cow wasn’t always named after a sweet tasting red fruit. He meandered on McCorkle Farm like any old black-and-white beast. His tail swatted the flies that bothered him in the hot summer sun. He ate the tall green grass and drank from the brook that ran over rocks and moss. 

One lazy August afternoon, the neighbor girl decided to pet the cow’s soft nose. She gathered a handful of strawberries from her pail and fed the cow. Her father planted a strawberry patch every summer, and she liked to harvest the berries. The cow enjoyed the strawberries so much that the girl fed him strawberries every afternoon. One day, Mr. McCorkle made a stunning announcement: there was a miracle. His cow of many years started making strawberry milk straight from the udders. It tasted sweeter than any milk that Mr. McCorkle had ever swallowed. He told the neighbors that it was almost like the hen that laid the golden egg. 

In no time, he would certainly be richer than the Queen of England. The girl chuckled to herself and decided to keep her strawberry miracle a secret. When autumn came and the girl’s strawberry patch dried up, Mr. McCorkle had a dilemma. The cow no longer produced the strawberry milk that Mr. McCorkle advertised everywhere. Mr. McCorkle was so distraught that he almost closed his entire farm in embarrassment. Business dropped, and the farmer looked like a fool that created fairy stories.

As the seasons changed and the summer approached, the girl was excited for the annual strawberry patch. She hoped that Mr. McCorkle’s cow would produce the miracle strawberry milk again. So, she fed him strawberries each afternoon before dinner, like she did the previous summer. Before she knew it, Mr. McCorkle was reporting to the local newspaper that the miracle had returned. Mr. McCorkle named his cow “Strawberry” and announced that she only made strawberry milk in the summer. The farmer bottled the milk and sold it for twice the price as the normal pasteurized milk. People came from miles around, lining up every morning from dawn until dusk to drink the miracle. 

As long as Strawberry the Cow lived, the girl—who grew up to be a woman—fed the cow every summer. The woman never told the farmer that she had been feeding the cow her father’s strawberries. She was glad enough to be a miracle if it gave the farmer added faith and happy endings.

 

Copyright 2015 Jennifer Waters