Mulching can be very helpful during the dry season when you water/irrigate your garden and don't need to worry about the water evaporating before the plants absorb most of it. Of course you can buy mulch or make some of your own if you can get the stuff that's required to make the mulch but supposing you don't have the money [or just don't want to spend some money] is there a way you can get free mulch?
Another way to get it pretty cheap is to check your local Home Depot or Lowes for palettes with broken bags on them. They usually will sell you the whole palette really cheap since they can't sell the bags individually anymore. We've also gotten really good deals on bags of rocks too using this method. Just swing by their parking lots whenever you happen to be in the area and passing by and keep an eye out for them. Some of my relatives used to use bags of horse manure, and work it into the dirt with a rotor tiller. It used to gross me out so much, I was reluctant to eat anything they grew out of their gardens.
