DigitalVinyl said:

I will add some mulch as soon as the last seedlings show where they
want to grow from. Haven't decided if I want to do something cheap
(like newspaper, grass--i've read cautions about each) or something
more attractive like the reddish wood mulch that I could buy at home
depot.

OH NO! I wouldn't put that dyed-red mulch in a vegetable garden! (I wouldn't
even put it around my shrubs.)

I wouldn't put unrotted wood chips of *any* sort in a vegetable garden. (Well aged
or composted, is another story...)

Shredded leaves, dried grass clippings (lay them in the sun on a hard surface),
shredded straw -- maybe on top of a layer of newspaper -- stuff that will rot
by next spring -- that's veggie garden mulch.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)