Fully decomposed compost becomes humus which is ideal for growing vegetables-- but, again, humus is fully decomposed organic matter. You would probably be best to mix the topsoil in your garden with your not yet fully decomposed compost to get your raised beds going--50:50. Aged but not fully decomposed compost will likely be too light to grow in -- meaning, in part, it may not be moisture retentive. Here is a link that might be useful: HarvestToTable.com

I buy peat by the cubic foot at Home Depot (cheaper this way) and sift out the peat with a strainer or you can use a flour sifter) to get the finer peat for my violets.. I use the coarse peat for my othet plants.. it will give you more than you really need.. so I put it all in a new garbage can and just take out what I need and mix it with perlite and vermiculate - 1-1-1 of each... the peat is sometimes hard to get wet.. so I just knead it like you would dough in a big bucket with water and the remaining perlite and vermiculite until it is all wet.. then I squeeze out what I need and when I say squeeze.. I mean squeeze out the excess water. It will still be damp and that is what you want. Plant your plant or leaf cutting and then I put the container on a saucer, add water, wait for about 30 minutes, remove the excess water and you are ready to go!! Or the plant is !! If you are using it for leaf cutting.. just gently mist the soil.. do not over due it and place it, leave it alone and wait for babies!! Tea

Donna, it almost sounds like you are going to kill them with kindness. You should be able to take cuttings now. I don't bag mine for humidity, I dust with rooting hormone, insert in 5" deep plastic pots with drainage holes filled with any commercial potting soil and sit in shade. Water occasionally to keep moist. When it gets a little later, you could place the pots someplace semi protected...under a rhododendron is good - mother nature will do the rest. If we have an frigid blast of cold weather predicted (winter before last :) ), you could move the pots into an unheated porch or garage temporarily. If you have a large plant with flexible stems, pinning a branch to the ground with a brick or rock will usually assure layering - a new plant to cut free from the parent plant and pot up or transplant in Spring.

Mine's a bit leggy too, but I'd be a little careful cutting it back - I'd pinch rather than lop. It should break buds along the stem that way, without losing too much of the foliage it needs to grow. Mine's a few years old, and in mostly sun. It's rangy and asymmetrical, but I like it that way; it's planted among hydrangeas that are fairly regularly shaped, so a little chaos is acceptable to me.