Of course! But not with wood. I use home made compost and semi rotted leaves because that’s what I have access to at no cost. I went ’no dig’ a few years ago and just mulch repeatedly. I do exactly the same for ornamentals.

Ok what do you mean by ’no dig’?

Like Floral above I mulch my veggies with my homemade compost. I see little/no benefit from wood chips, shredded wood, or sawdust or than possibly smothering some weeds. The only wood product I'll sparingly add to my garden is in it's ash form.

Yes, I use salt marsh hay.

“No dig“ means exactly what it says. I do not dig my vegetable patch. (Perhaps you would say ”till”.) I only mulch. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VJhGIrqKs1k 

The only person I know who used hardwood bark to mulch tomatoes got a lot of blossom end rot, which I had predicted. I would use a PH test strip in the bark before I spread it. And I'm not sure how to accurately take a reading. Can you take it with bark in water, what kind of water???

From what I see on the internet the PH for bark is all over the place and one study from Poland revealed that in the same bark, hardwood or softwood, the PH varies wildly from one location to another. But it seems that hardwood bark is higher than softwood bark.

If you do get blossom end rot add some lime and the later tomatoes on that plant will be OK.

I definitely mulch - with coastal hay, since it's the least expensive here. It really improves the soil and prevents soil from splashing on leaves, so it helps keep diseases at bay.

I've never mulched veggies/herbs with woody mulches. I thought they encouraged fungi...?

I used to avoid tilling/digging, but now I do some shallow cultivating when prepping beds to uncover beetle grubs, which attack plant roots. I don't dig very deeply, tho, because that can stir up root knot nematodes.

Wood based mulches can create an N imbalance at the soil surface. While not an issue for many plants (only when the mulch is worked into the soil), it can have an adverse effect on very shallow rooted annual plants....like many veggies. I too mulch with compost.

btw, blossom end rot is a water related issue. pH really has no role in the condition unless your soil is highly acidic - it is inconsistent watering that prevents the uptake of calcium, which is typically present in sufficient concentrations but with an erratic delivery due to watering issues.

I avoid hay because of weed seeds but find straw is safe. I also use shredded leaves and chicken coop bedding (aged wood shavings and chicken manure.)

I've used the jute mesh over the planting beds here in Southern California. The jute mesh is usually used in erosion control of hillsides during construction but I think it works adequately in the garden as a ground cover. Here the sun is hot and the air is dry making it hard for the vegetable patch to stay lush during the summer, especially when water is such an expensive commodity. You can always spread between the weave of the mesh to add amendments to the soil if needed. The mesh doesn't cover the soil completely but does help in shielding it from the sun or the spray splash when watering. You can bunch up the mesh if you want a thicker layer but then it gets a bit unwieldy when it comes to working the soil.

I for sure mulch my veggie gardens, but not with wood chip. That stuff is for garden paths :)

What I use depends on what I have available at the time I'm putting in a layer of mulch. Usually brown leaves or pine straw in the fall, green grass clippings in the summer when the mows are good. I've got a couple spots that reap well and clean up easy for getting summer mulch. I've had the occasional heap of nettles big enough to mulch with instead of just scatter or use for ferments. This year I'm hoping the comfrey patch will get big enough to start using more for mulching instead of just ferments. At some times of the year I might plant in some cover crop or living mulch in areas, like early spring before I use a bed or between harvests when a space might be open for a couple weeks I'll put in something fast and usually baby edible. I can just chop and drop if we don't eat it all in time :)

Compost gets dug in or spread right around the plants, but not often in large quantites to make a full mulch.

Thanks everyone, I am considering shredded leaves. Too bad I blew them all away last fall, there was only a mower bag full left. This fall I will be sure to save them all

I mulch my vegetables with grass clippings. There is a lot of lawn at my house. My son mows and collects the clippings with a sweeper.

Don’t waste those leaves, Heruga! They are a valuable resource in the garden.

Leaves over cardboard in the soft fruit section.