Peralta counts its summers in alfalfa cuttings and the sound of ditch water. At dusk the bosque fills with birds, the fields go silver-green, and the big trees along the ditch banks stand out black against what is left of the sky. Trimming those keeps limbs clear of the barns, the hay trailers and the wires that run down every lane. Pruning young wood early gives it a shape that can hold a hard July storm without tearing. Removal is measured and unhurried, and when wind comes through the valley, storm damage cleanup gets the drive open and the wood stacked or carted off.