Mulching or Weeding?

I was weeding out the plantain in one of the Produce Garden paths and came across this demonstration of the benefits of mulching (in this case with a "weed" cover-crop). The original cut grass mulch covering the path had rotted away leaving bare soil. After removing one of the plantains (it's at the top of the photo), I realized that the soil underneath was dark, wet and somewhat friable, whereas the exposed soil nearby was crusted and dry.

The purpose of the original mulch was to protect the path soil, allowing the underlying moisture to soak towards the beds. It seemed counter productive to now weed some living thing that had picked up the slack from lack of mulch. 

I stopped weeding that path.

Once we have enough mulch to protect all the soil in each path, then we can remove whatever weeds are still growing.