Congrats on the sage!
If they added sand to your clay, they made concrete. How large are the raised beds? Length, width, height.... What are they made of? Tell me that, and I can tailor my suggestions.
Can you run a tiller through it? I would remove the peat (if possible) and use soil conditioner instead (big bags are inexpensive at both Lowes/HD... it's basically adding organic matter to the soil). Abandon all thought of planting in it this year other than some type of "green manure" cover crop, and instead, use this year to improve the soil in it. For what it's worth, I've never used peat in any bed I've built. I don't like to spend more than $2/bag for anything I buy, when possible.
Assuming you don't want to dig it out and start fresh, I would try spot composting. Bury your kitchen scraps in different locations of it all summer long. That will feed the microbes and worms and they'll mix that dirt up FOR you. You never know -- some seeds from the kitchen scraps might grow in it, and that would be like: "Bonus, Dude!" because you weren't expecting it, rather than the "bummer, dude!" if you plant seeds and they swim away.
Sometimes sheet composting is an easy answer... if you can add another layer or two to the bed's border (one of the reasons I like using landscape timbers), you can just raise the height, spread several layers of cardboard/newspaper/kitchen scraps over all the crappy soil and start fresh on top of the cardboard. The cardboard eventually breaks down and feeds the soil beneath it, and over time, you have a better bed.
I used to de-turf and dig new beds in my yard, but have decided that for me, raised beds are the way to grow. I do flowers, not veggies, so landscape timbers are an acceptable choice for me.
Just some thoughts.
Your mileage may vary. Professional driver on closed course. Don't use electrical appliances in the bathtub, hot tub or swimming pool, and assorted other disclaimers apply.
(Ann - you caught the professional driver disclaimer, yeah? (or was that Natalie who liked that one?) )
