I just use shredded leaves. Now I have them in super abundance, but even at the old place, there were plenty. Everyone raked or blew their leaves to the curb for the town to vacuum up every fall, so I'd go grab them before the town got to them. I shred them by putting the bagger on the mower. Wash out the city provided wheeled garbage can to drag along with me, and dump the bag into that until full. Then go pile them where ever I want them.

Great soil amendment as they break down and the worms work them into the soil. But slugs and earwigs also find leaf mulch quite wonderful shelter.

Whatever you use, Mary, mulch, and mulch well. Conserves water, suppresses weeds, keeps roots cool in the withering heat of summer, and adds organic matter to the soil as it breaks down.

Without a tractor or substantial tiller, straw is hard to work back into the soil as it has so much cellulose in it that it doesn't chop easily. But it is cheap and effective, doesn't break down as quickly as leaves, and therefore functions longer as mulch, and will eventually break down on it's own for the worms to till into the soil as they see fit.

Leaves are free, but pretty labor intensive to shred and then move to where you want them. And you do not want to mulch plants with unshredded leaves - they are big enough that rain can run off of them and not reach the soil as well as it needs to.

I had a neighbor who every couple of years talks the street department, at leaf vacuuming time, to blow a truckload of the leaves they had just vacuumed and shredded into a huge pile next to his garden, which was fairly close to the street.

Your garden looks like it is coming along quite nicely. From the pictures it looks like you have sandy soil, and not clay. Is that right?