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I write about our north-facing hillside a lot, but I only realized a few weeks ago that the term isn't self-explanatory to all our readers.  Basically, a north-facing hillside...um...faces north.  That means if you're standing on the hill and looking down, you're looking to the north, so in the northern hemisphere, you'll end up with a lot more shade in this type of landscape compared to on a south-facing hillside.  In the winter, especially, it's much colder the closer you are to the steep slope of a north-facing hill since the higher land blocks morning and evening sun for areas at the hill's feet (due to sun angles).

To illustrate my point, I walked up on the powerline pasture terrace and took some shots of our homestead from above.  The first photo in this post is what we call the front garden, which is closest to the hillside.  A week after the big snow, this area is still deeply covered because there's barely been any direct sun hitting the ground.

The second photo shows the mule garden and the southern chicken pastures.  This is at the southern extreme of our core homestead, meaning it's as far away from the hillside as possible.  I took both of these photos at the same time so you can tell that being further away from the hillside is a major boon in terms of winter sun.  (You can also tell that the quick hoop on the right has mostly bounced back with a little TLC.)

North- and south-facing hillsides both have their advantages and disadvantages (and southern hemisphere readers should, obviously, flip the terms around for their homesteads).  I nestle summer chicken pastures up against our hillside, but put the winter chicken pastures down in the sunniest spot, along with our winter garden.  Cool-loving plants like currants and gooseberries enjoy the cool microclimate of the north-facing hillside, and I keep meaning to try some peaches up there to see if the cold will retard bloom enough to miss late frosts.  If I had a south-facing hillside, it would be great for solar panels and fungus-prone plants.

In general, it's easier to take sun away (with shade trees) than to add sun, so unless you live in a very hot region, south-facing hillsides are preferred for most homesteaders.  But if you're picking an ugly duckling property, north-facing hillsides aren't so bad.