New player level 50 crafting questions

[Velisra]

LTW is 51, but the problem is that getting the tea leaves in current gear is ridiculously slow. I'm able to get four leaves per node is all, and I don't have enough GP to even use Blessed Harvest (because current gear is not great). I need tea leaves to make better gear, but need better gear to get tea leaves at a reasonable rate.

And it's not that buying them from the vendor isn't an option--I've made plenty of Gil and even managed to have plenty left over after I was finally able to buy a small plot and a house just a couple of days ago--it's that it seems like there should be a better option than gathering eight leaves per hour or paying for them from a vendor, and I mean a better option for getting the gear, not necessarily getting the leaves.

I guess I'll just keep picking up my eight leaves per hour, and eventually be able to make a couple of pieces of new gathering gear, which will get the ball rolling.