Grape selections that come out of the Clean Plant Center-Northwest Grapes are certified to be free of known grape viruses and crown gall disease, making them the cleanest in the nation. But years of work to test and maintain the clean plant material can quickly be undone by planting in dirty soil, says manager Gary Ballard. For nearly a decade, Ballard has managed the grape program at Clean Plant ­Center-Northwest Grapes (formerly the Northwest Grape Foundation Service), overseeing the quarantine testing procedures and maintenance of the four-acre grape foundation block. Since the grape foundation program was re-invigorated in the early […]