I am also super new. I started yesterday.

I've been questing and I'm level 8 at the moment.

I don't really know what crystals do. I have 31 of them..

Someone recommended once I hit 10 that I should start "harvesting"

Yay, nay?

no. battle urself to min 30 (you then can use lvl 30 gems and they are lot better), also lvl 40 should be possible pretty quick.
cry is best thing u have, quest boost is good way to use cry. also build house asap and lvl it all time, lvl 5 u can get harveston and its very helpful. (u can build house vs 200 fame)
if need gold, sell plat. low lvl player dont need plat.

if u verify ur account u can get 25 crystals which you should spend in the crystal shop for permanent boost =)