I feel your pain, I've ripped up my share of that stuff. Mike, I think you'll be so happy with the results!
When you take a break, I hope you might find as much relevant info in this brief lecture as I did. The agricultural stuff applies very little since when I do edibles, they are injected between the shrubs and other perennials, but the other parts about soil are so well said and explained. I've seen this in action in so many new beds started over the years in both OH clay and sandy AL ground, doing it for decades.
http://permaculturenews.org/20...
If you add it (organic material to the surface,) they (the worms and other soil dwellers) will come.
Whatever you have, whenever you have it, a variety provides more nutrients for soil and plants. To have a great garden, you have to work on having great soil. Not hard work, just periodically adding stuff to beds, spread around so it's not a clump of anything in 1 place, like leaves, pine needles, compost, cut grass that has no seeds in it, 'mulchy looking' kitchen scraps (icky stuff can be kind of buried between plants, under the existing mulch,) small trimmings from plants, weeds pulled before they make seeds (lay them roots-up in the sun)... and of course, more actual mulch - if you find you need to buy it. I sometimes do, to get started in a new area, but then try to make use of whatever comes around.
