Each can be a way to increase the nitrogen as fertiliser and fibre for soil friability or texture. Both will create a richness to the soil as a better habitat for microbes, worms, other small insects and will assist in seed germination.

Composting in either highly managed to create heat which will kill off unwanted seeds, or a simple pile of waste which can be used much later with the problem that quite a few plant roots and seeds may infest the area it is used on.

Mulching is usually a method to suppress unwanted plants, keep heat in the soil and slowly add some structure and nutrients to the soil as it decays. Further the roots of unwanted plants will reach up to the dampness of the mulch and be easier to remove.

So why not to do either?

Well this is a matter of philosophy. For the cultivator that is hell bent on improving cultivation on one are of land at the expense of another it is fine as a small cultivate are is unlikely to produce much in the way of vegetable matter to suffice.

This is the common philosophy. We consume that which is exterior to our perceived being, so why not extend that to depleting other land by consuming the 'life' that grew there, though clearly that is not just to the detriment of that consumed but to that land becoming all the 'poorer' to support growth therein and thereon.

Mulching, by reducing the sunlight inhibits plant growth and so the ground will produce less biomass whilst it is covered, which may not be much of an issue in winter when growth is minimal. Mitigation is where plant roots rise to the mulch and such plants can grow yet are easier to remove.

So what is the alternative:

Starting with a different philosophy there is no alternative. This philosophy is tied to self preservation with recourse to consume another. You could start with not eating other people animals and then not eating vegetables, after all unless they are dead they also want to 'live'. This surmounts to consuming only fruit that is ripe and allowing the seeds to germinate, if they can.

Back to the vegan option. To cultivate on an area of land that is defined as minimal requires no vegetation to be removed from one piece of land to support the consumer that reside on another. Clearly the area is all important, but that is another matter.