Straw is often considered the best garden mulch there is for many reasons. Hay is a close second and my personal preference simply because we grow our own so we have it.

There are literally 50 discussions here on garden mulches the search will pull up for you to browse but I linked three of the better ones for you.

Straw for mulch - pros and cons

What's a good mulch for veggies?

Garden mulches

Dave

Thanks Dave!
The reason I ask is also because I bought some bags of it once and the dang stuff seemed to REPEL water. It was really annoying. Appreciate the links.
Angie

Well I took Dave's advice and checked out the suggested links. I have always used chopped tree (mostly oak) leaves and grass clippings and after reading through the posts I am happy with my method and have no reason to change. Not to say other mulches don't work just nothing to convince me to change, thanks Dave.