On Friday, March 5, 2021 at 7:36:32 PM UTC-6, alan wrote:
The wife wants me to terrace a small 100 foot hillside with about 5 runs.

So I google and find ideas for soil (no retaining wall) contour terracing.

But why do they always say start from the bottom and work the way up?
I already started at the top and am on the 1st run working the way down.

What's the difference?
No clue, but I'm curious how you're deciding where to put the terraces. I ran across this
after a really short search. It talks about using an A frame level to mark the terraces path.
https://integralpermaculture.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/making-swales-part-4-the-a-frame/
Dad had one he called his Walking A. He used it to lay out the lands when plowing. He would flip
the Walking A maybe 30 times at one end of the field then put a flag or stake there. Then he'd go to the other end and do the same thing. His smaller Walking A was maybe three feet point to point. It was a measuring tool