Good idea to have mining/botany retainers while working on my first 50?

[tocsin]

best thing to get ur retainers to gather would be shards since u can run out pretty fast :P

This.

Plus, your own mining or botany skill needed is minimized, because shards are a lvl 1 item, and your retainer can gather shards, which can help fund your character while leveling up.

Shards go for around 150 apiece on my server at least. minimum geared retainers can collect 20 an hour. 3000 gil per hour is nothing to scoff at at low levels, although the numbers get bigger at higher levels.