CUL is my only crafting class and FSH is my only gathering class at the moment. I can tell you right now that FSH does *not* help CUL as much as people say it does (at least in the first 40 levels, which is where I am). Every now and then you get a recipe you can grind on, but primarily you will be using leves to level your crafts as they are BY FAR the best and most efficient way to level.

Always choose the leves that require multiple items to turn in, such as Walnut Bread or Acorn Cookies, for example. The triple turn ins (you need three of the item to turn in) may seem like it takes more, but those leves will ask for two more turn ins before the leve is considered complete, so it is essentially three leves for the cost of one allowance; very efficient. Combine that with HQ items and you're getting a HUGE bonus to efficiency! Once you get into the 20s or so, you should have no problem crafting HQ items all the time, with food at least. I'm not sure about the other crafts.