Just thought I'd drop a note that I've finally managed to add trade skills to the downtime system. To queue up a trade skill, go to your character sheet. Next to the trade skill you'd like to practice, in the same place you usually see plusses and minuses, you'll now have a "Practice" link. Click it, and you'll have the option to queue the skill up for a day or a week.
The distinction is really a matter of preference; you could queue up trade skills for one day at a time and end up with the same yield. The "week" option is really just a matter of convenience, so you don't have to queue up the same skill repeatedly or get daily notices of your production.
Note that the big hurdle was the item system, which I bypassed for the sake of expediency. Because of this, even gathering skills will generate production rather than items right now. Don't worry; they'll work pretty much the same. If you come to the game with 20 Herbalism Production, you'll be able to exchange it for an equivalent amount of gold and/or herbs. In fact, it's a little bit better, since, until I make it random, the components you receive will be your choice.
Other than completion emails, there's no way to see your total production just yet. I'll be working on it in the coming weeks. Rest assured, however, that your production is being stored in the database and will be available to the item marshal at check-in.
Enjoy!